Restoration of dead wood in Basque stream channels: effects on brown trout population

Abstract – Streams in the Aiako Harria Natural Park (Basque Country, Spain) have excellent water quality, but are physically impoverished after centuries of snagging. In an attempt to restore channel complexity and ecosystem functioning, especially in‐channel retention of sediments and organic matter, large woody debris (LWD) was introduced into four mountain streams (channel width 3–13 m) following a before/after, control/impact (BACI) design. Logs were introduced by means of hand‐held machinery and located uncabled, mimicking the natural amount and disposition of LWD in streams. Floods disrupted most of the structures at the large stream, but caused little damage to those in the small ones. Only minnow and brown trout inhabit in the area. Before wood addition, trout densities were fairly high in the small streams, low in the large one, where recruitment seemed very poor. In the small tributaries, trout populations showed a strong imbalance towards young fish, adults being only found in the spawning season. Wood addition produced some interesting trends in trout, although statistical significance was low as a result of large environmental variability. Fish densities showed small changes, but biomass increased, especially in the spawning season. Also, there was a trend towards more aged 2⁺ or larger, thus suggesting wood addition improved adult habitat. Although restoring LWD is extremely unusual in Spain, the changes in physical habitat and the trends in fish populations detected in the present project suggest it is worth making more experiments, at least in safe settings where there is no risk of flooding or damaging properties.     

Distribution modelling to guide stream fish conservation: an example using the mountain sucker in the Black Hills National Forest,USA

• 1. Conservation biologists need tools that can utilize existing data to identify areas with the appropriate habitat for species of conservation concern. Regression models that predict suitable habitat from geospatial data are such a tool. Multiple logistic regression models developed from existing geospatial data were used to identify large‐scale stream characteristics associated with the occurrence of mountain suckers (Catostomus platyrhynchus), a species of conservation concern, in the Black Hills National Forest, South Dakota and Wyoming, USA.
• 2. Stream permanence, stream slope, stream order, and elevation interacted in complex ways to influence the occurrence of mountain suckers. Mountain suckers were more likely to be present in perennial streams, and in larger, higher gradient streams at higher elevations but in smaller, lower gradient streams at lower elevations.
• 3. Applying the logistic regression model to all streams provided a way to identify streams in the Black Hills National Forest most likely to have mountain suckers present. These types of models and predictions can be used to prioritize areas that should be surveyed to locate additional populations, identify stream segments within catchments for population monitoring, aid managers in assessing whether proposed forest management will potentially have impacts on fish populations, and identify streams most suitable for stream rehabilitation and conservation or translocation efforts.
• 4. When the effect of large brown trout (Salmo trutta) was added to the best model of abiotic factors, it had a negative effect on the occurrence of mountain suckers. Negative effects of brown trout on the mountain sucker suggest that management of recreational trout fisheries needs to be balanced with mountain sucker conservation in the Black Hills. However, more spatially explicit information on brown trout abundance would allow managers to understand where the two species interact and where recreational fisheries need to be balanced with fish conservation.

Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Use of first‐order tributaries by brown trout (Salmo trutta) as nursery habitat in a cold water stream network

Many investigators have examined the importance of suitable in‐stream habitat and flow regime to salmonid fishes. However, there is much less known about the use of small (<5 l·s^?1 discharge) first‐order streams within a larger stream network by salmonids. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of small headwater streams by juvenile brown trout Salmo trutta in the Emmons Creek stream network in Wisconsin, USA, and to determine whether abundance was related to habitat variables in these streams. Fishes in eight spring‐fed first‐order streams were sampled during a 7‐month period using a backpack electroshocker and measured for total length. Habitat variables assessed included stream discharge, water velocity, sediment composition and the abundance of cover items (woody debris and macrophytes). Densities of YOY trout ranged from 0 to 1 per m² over the course of the study and differed among first‐order streams. Stepwise multiple regression revealed discharge to be negatively associated with trout density in spring but not in summer. All other habitat variables were not significantly related to trout density. Our results demonstrate the viability of small first‐order streams as nursery habitat for brown trout and support the inclusion of headwater streams in conservation and stream restoration efforts.     

How deforestation drives stream habitat changes and the functional structure of fish assemblages in different tropical regions

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Country‐wide analysis of large wood as a driver of fish abundance in Swedish streams: Which species benefit and where?

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Modelling spatial exclusion of a vulnerable native fish by introduced trout in rivers using landscape features: a new tool for conservation management

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Association of brook trout and Oncorhynchus spp. with large wood jams in a Lake Superior tributary in a northern old‐growth watershed

Wood in streams functions as fish habitat, but relationships between fish abundance (or size) and large wood in streams are not consistent. One possible reason for variable relationships between fish and wood in streams is that the association of fish with wood habitat may depend on ecological context such as large‐scale geomorphology. We studied the relationship between salmonid assemblages and large wood jams (LWJ) in four settings that differed geomorphically at the scale of the stream corridor along a tributary to Lake Superior in old‐growth conifer–hardwood forest in northern Michigan. The focal fish species of this study were brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), which were wild in the stream. Relocation efforts for coaster brook trout (an adfluvial life history variant of brook trout) were ongoing in the study stream. We measured fish abundance and length in pairs of pools of similar size and substrate, but varying in the presence of LWJ; this allowed us to evaluate associations of fish simply with the presence of LWJ rather than with other channel or flow‐shaping functions of LWJ. The length of Oncorhynchus spp. and young introduced brook trout was not strongly correlated with LWJ presence; however, the presence of LWJ in pools was positively correlated with larger wild brook trout. We also found that the correspondence of LWJ with the abundance of salmonids appears to be moderated by the presence of alternative habitat in this relatively natural, old‐growth forest stream.     

Influences of in-stream habitat and upstream land-use on site occupancy of the Kanawha darter (Etheostoma kanawhae): A narrowly distributed species from the New River (Upper Kanawha Basin)

1. Freshwater communities are threatened by the conversion of natural landscapes for urban and agricultural purposes. Changes to land use may disrupt stream nutrient and geomorphological processes and reduce water quality, increase sedimentation, and decrease habitat heterogeneity eventually leading to species loss and decreases in ecosystem productivity. Endemic species are frequently at greater risk of habitat-mediated fragmentation and extirpation due to their constrained distributions.
2. The Kanawha darter (Etheostoma kanawhae) is an understudied fish endemic to the New River Drainage in North Carolina and Virginia, USA. To investigate the potential effect(s) of land-use change on Kanawha darters, naïve occupancy was modelled using instream habitat characteristics and upstream forest cover.
3. Generalized linear models revealed that instream habitat and forest cover are reliable predictors of Kanawha darter site occupancy. Specifically, models demonstrated that occupancy increased in reaches with reduced stream width, velocity, and bedrock substrate but higher concentrations of coarse woody material. Kanawha darter occupancy was also positively associated with the extent of forest cover in upstream catchments.
4. Although Kanawha darters are not currently considered imperilled, most populations occurred in isolated reaches separated by large sections of unoccupied habitat. Continuing ex-urban development in riparian zones is likely to be the primary threat to Kanawha darters and other endemic species in this catchment. Resource managers and stakeholders should preserve forest cover in headwaters and occupied tributaries and protect or restore riparian zones along the main-stem South and North Forks of the New River to preserve high-quality habitat and enhance connectivity among isolated Kanawha darter populations.
5. As human populations in montane regions continue to grow, there is a need to understand how land-use change affects endemic freshwater species. This study further supports the importance of retaining forest cover as an effective strategy for protecting and restoring populations of endemic fishes in high-gradient streams.

     

Relationships between trout habitat use and woody debris in two southern New England streams

Abstract – In-stream habitat was measured and trout density was estimated in Merrick Brook (105 habitat units) and the Tankerhoosen River (135 habitat units), Connecticut to determine relationships between habitat use of brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis and brown trout Salmo trutta and woody debris. In each habitat unit, woody debris was inventoried, and length, width, depth, area, width : depth ratio and undercut bank area were estimated. Trout abundance was estimated by snorkeling. Multiple regression was used to test relationships between trout density and principal components describing habitat unit variables. In Merrick Brook, habitat unit size and shape explained most of the variability in density of brook trout (<130 and ≥130 mm) and brown trout (<150 mm) among habitat units, although principle components describing large woody debris or fine woody debris contributed significantly to variations in density of brook trout (≥130 mm) and brown trout (<150 and ≥150 mm). In the Tankerhoosen River, fine woody debris explained most of the variability in density of brook trout (<130 and ≥130 mm), followed by habitat unit size and shape. Both large woody debris and fine woody debris contributed significantly to variations in density of brown trout (≥150 mm). These results suggest that woody debris is an important component of wild trout habitat above that provided by habitat unit shape and size alone.     

Habitat suitability analysis for lacustrine brown trout (Salmo trutta) in Lake Walchensee,Germany: implications for the conservation of an endangered flagship species

• 1. The lacustrine brown trout (Salmo trutta) is endangered and of high conservation importance. In the only spawning habitat of the population in the Bavarian Lake Walchensee, the River Obernach, a substantial decrease in spawning runs has been reported. In this study, the present ecological state of the spawning stream was analysed with the objective of identifying life‐stage specific limitations to successful recruitment attributable to deficiencies in (i) spawning migration, (ii) spawning habitat quality, and (iii) habitat quality for juveniles.
• 2. Structural stream analysis showed that discharge and several migration barriers — particularly near the river outlet into the lake — prevent successful spawning migrations at normal water levels. Migration barriers are probably the main limiting factor for reproduction of lacustrine brown trout, whereas structural variability of the Obernach meets the habitat requirements of both spawners and juveniles.
• 3. Spawning site quality was suitable for trout, as indicated by stream substratum texture and high exchange rates between free‐flowing water and the interstitial zone in physico‐chemical parameters (redox potential, dissolved oxygen, pH, temperature and conductivity).
• 4. Analyses of fish community structure revealed dominance of lithophilic species, in particular of riverine brown trout (Salmo trutta). Its density and intact demographic population structure suggest that spawning and juvenile habitat quality for salmonids is not limiting. Recapture of stocked lacustrine trout juveniles also indicates habitat suitability for the juvenile stage.
• 5. In conclusion, the results show that the methodology used in this study is suitable for the identification of life‐stage specific habitat deficiencies in lacustrine brown trout and other fish species. Availability of habitat data throughout the species' distribution range is a first crucial step for the development of an effective recovery plan. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

     

Habitat mapping and conservation analysis to identify critical streams for Arizona's native fish

• 1. Arizona's native fish species are among the most imperilled fauna in North America. Knowing the current distribution of native fish and their habitat is critical to their management and conservation, but the last detailed mapping effort was more than 30 years ago and pre‐dated computer mapping techniques.
• 2. Current distribution of 34 native fish species was modelled by identifying perennial stream segments for which species presence had been documented. A composite of these single‐species maps displays a pattern of species richness that can inform conservation, especially when overlaid with maps of management status or invasive species.
• 3. The map overlays suggest that conservation priorities should include Eagle Creek, the Verde River and its tributaries, Aravaipa Canyon, the Virgin River and Black Draw, which together hold 63% of native fish species. Of the 32 streams that support five or more native species, 28 have at least one non‐native fish species, indicating that a more aggressive programme of removing non‐natives may be critical to maintaining those native populations.
• 4. The U.S. Forest Service and Native American tribes administer the majority of occupied stream habitat (30% and 27%, respectively). While private lands hold the third‐highest amount of occupied habitat (19%), they control streams occupied by the greatest total number of native species (30). Conservationists should work more with private land owners, while also coordinating efforts with the U.S. Forest Service and North American tribes.
• 5. These data are publicly available (on the Internet, URL: www.azconservation.org ) to encourage refinement and use.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modelling functional fish habitat connectivity in rivers: A case study for prioritizing restoration actions targeting brown trout

1. Throughout the world, decreased connectivity of fluvial habitats caused by artificial river channel alterations such as culverts, weirs and dykes is seen as an important threat to the long‐term survival of many aquatic species. In addition to assessing habitat quality and abundance, wildlife managers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of taking into account habitat connectivity when setting priorities for restoration. In this paper, a new approach of spatial analysis adapted to rivers and streams is proposed for modelling 2D functional habitat connectivity, integrating distance, costs and risk of travelling between habitat patches (e.g. daily use, spawning, refuge) for particular fish species, size classes and life stages.
2. This approach was applied to a case study in which brown trout (Salmo trutta) habitat accessibility was examined and compared under various scenarios of stream restoration in a highly fragmented stream in Ile‐de‐France. Probabilities of reaching spawning habitats were estimated from a trout‐populated area located downstream of the barriers and from potential daily‐use habitat patches across the stream segment.
3. The approach successfully helped prioritize restoration actions by identifying options that yield the greatest increase in accessible spawning habitat areas and connectivity between spawning habitat and daily‐use habitat patches. This case study illustrates the practical use of the approach and the software in the context of river habitat management.

     

Stream bed organic carbon and biotic integrity

• 1. Allochthonous carbon is the basis of the detrital food web in low‐order, warmwater stream ecosystems, and stream‐bed sediments typically function as carbon reservoirs. Many of the same factors that govern carbon input and storage to streams (e.g. riparian vegetation, large wood, heterogeneous boundaries) have also been identified as key attributes of stream fish habitat.
• 2. Effects of channel incision on sand‐bed stream carbon reservoirs and indices of biological integrity (IBIs) based on fish collections were examined for four streams exhibiting a range of incisement in northern Mississippi. Observed mean C concentrations (mass percentage) ranged from 0.24±0.36% for a non‐incised stream to only 0.01±0.02% for a severely incised channel, and were not correlated with large wood (LW) density, perhaps because LW density at one site was elevated by a habitat rehabilitation project and at another site by accelerated inputs from incision‐related riparian tree fall. Fish IBI was positively correlated with bed C (r=0.70, p=0.003), and IBIs for reference streams were more than 50% greater than those computed for the most severely degraded sites.
• 3. More testing is needed to determine the efficacy of stream bed C as an indicator, but its importance to warmwater stream ecosystems, and the importance of covarying physical and hydrologic conditions seems evident.

Published in 2008 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Initial habitat response to incised channel rehabilitation

• 1. Incised stream channel aquatic habitats typically are severely degraded. After the primary knickpoints or knickzones have passed, base flows are limited to shallow channels flanked by sandy berms within the enlarged high-flow channel. Riparian vegetation, woody debris and pool habitat are in short supply, and stream systems become disengaged from their floodplains.
• 2. We hypothesized that habitat recovery might be accelerated in channels that have incised and are regaining equilibrium through deposition of sandy berms by placing rock spurs in the channel and by planting woody vegetation on the berms. On the basis of literature review and a pilot study, planting designs were developed for a large-scale field experiment: 2550 1.5 m long cuttings of native willow (Salix spp.) 2–25 cm in diameter were planted 1–1.2 m deep along the base-flow channel of an incised stream. A ridge of stone was placed on the water side of the plantings, and 17 rock spurs were constructed by extending existing spur dikes from the opposite bank.
• 3. Woody cover along the treated bank increased from 38% to 66% of bankline after one growing season. Survival of individual plantings was reduced from an estimated 60% to an observed 34% by competition from the exotic kudzu vine, Pueraria lobata. Mean depth and mean scour hole depth, corrected for stage variation, increased 44% and 82%, respectively. Mean scour hole width increased 130%. The mean length of fish and the number of fish species approximately doubled, while the total weight of fish captured by a unit of sampling effort increased by an order of magnitude.

     

Conserving fluxes of terrestrial invertebrates to trout in streams: A first field experiment on the effects of cattle grazing

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Broad‐scale habitat classification variables predict maximum local abundance for native but not non‐native trout in New York streams

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Salmonid colonization of new streams in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska

Abstract. Following the rapid recession of a neoglacial ice sheet within the last 250 years, colonization of recently deglaciated streams by salmonid fishes was investigated in Glacier Bay National Park, south-eastern Alaska. The primary factors governing the establishment, species diversity composition and abundance of salmonids in Glacier Bay streams were water temperature, sediment loading and stream discharge. No salmonids were found in the turbid meltwater streams emerging from retreating ice. Coho, Oncorhynchus kisutch (Walbaum), and sockeye, Oncorhynchus nerka (Walbaum). salmon and Dolly Vardcn, Salvelinus malma (Walbaum), charr were the first salmonids to colonize the youngest clearwater stream. Juvenile Dolly Varden were more abundant than juvenile coho salmon in the most recently formed clearwater stream because of the characteristic absence of pool habital. Densities of juvenile coho salmon were six times greater in a stream with a series of lakes compared with a stream of similar age without lakes. Future advancement of salmonid stocks will probably depend upon the rate and extent of the development of riparian vegetation and inputs of large woody debris from the developing forest to provide further instream cover, habitat variation and channel stabilization.     

Influence of mapping resolution on assessments of stream and streamside conditions: lessons from coastal Oregon,USA

• 1. Digital hydrographic data are commonly employed in research, planning, and monitoring for freshwater conservation, but hydrographic datasets differ in spatial resolution and accuracy of spatial representation, possibly leading to inaccurate conclusions or unsuitable policies for streams and streamside areas.
• 2. To examine and illustrate the potential for different hydrographic datasets to influence in‐channel and streamside characterizations, a study area in the US Pacific Northwest was chosen because 1:100 000, 1:24 000, and densified 1:24 000 hydrography are available and widely used in research and management for several species of Pacific salmon and trout at risk. The potential was examined for differences among the digital hydrographic datasets in: (1) spatial extent to influence estimated abundances of fish habitat, streamside buffer conditions, and fish distributions; and (2) spatial position to influence estimated streamside buffer conditions and estimated stream gradient.
• 3. The analysis of spatial extent found the total stream length represented by the 1:100 000 hydrography was approximately one half that of 1:24 000 hydrography and only one fifth that of densified 1:24 000 hydrography. The 1:100 000 and 1:24 000 networks differed significantly for 13 out of 18 fish habitat attributes, and the three hydrographic datasets differed significantly for many characteristics in streamside buffers; fish distributions mapped at 1:24 000 added 6–14% of stream length to 1:100 000 distributions. The analysis of spatial position found few differences between the 1:100 000 and 1:24 000 hydrography in streamside buffer characteristics but significant differences in channel gradient.
• 4. Overall, hydrographic datasets differed only slightly in spatial position but differed in spatial extent to the point of representing different populations of streams. If species inhabiting larger streams (greater mean annual discharge) are of interest, then results derived from studies based on 1:100 000 hydrography should prove useful. However, higher‐resolution hydrography can be critical when designing and implementing strategies to protect fish and other aquatic species at risk in smaller streams.

Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evidence of concealment behavior by adult rainbow trout and brook trout in winter

Abstract – There has been little investigation of the winter ecology of adult trout during winter, especially in regard to concealment behavior. We compared day vs night underwater counts of adult rainbow trout and brook trout from four streams. At water temperatures between 1°C and 9°C, daytime counts accounted for 44% and 16% of nighttime snorkeling counts for rainbow trout and brook trout adults, respectively. As winter progressed, nighttime counts declined more so for brook trout than rainbow trout, but the decline was not significant for either species. Nocturnalism of both species was higher in streams with colder water temperatures. We observed few fish within concealment structure; however, by electrofishing concealment habitat during the day, we captured 10 times more adult trout than we counted immediately beforehand by snorkeling. Adult trout were concealed in cobble-boulder substrate and woody debris during the day. ^Note     

The status of host fish populations and fish species richness in European freshwater pearl mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera) streams

• 1. The status of host fish populations and fish species richness was investigated at 36 sites of 20 extant freshwater pearl mussel populations, including the drainages of the Elbe, Danube, Rhine, Weser, Aulne, Kemijoki and Tuuloma in Germany, the Czech Republic, France and Finland, by carrying out comparative electrofishings.
• 2. Brown trout (Salmo trutta f. fario) were found to be the available host fish for pearl mussels in all except one of the streams investigated with mean densities of 2861 ha^?1 (range 0–8710 ha^?1) and a mean biomass of 119 kg ha^?1 (range 0–478 kg ha^?1). Streams that had been frequently stocked with brown trout had higher trout biomass and densities of host fish than natural populations, but trout stocking had no positive effect in two of the streams investigated.
• 3. Fish species richness ranged from 2 to 16 species per stream and showed a negative correlation with host fish biomass and host fish densities. Undisturbed oligotrophic pearl mussel headwater streams usually only yielded a low number of fish species. Habitat degradation can reduce competitiveness of specialized trout and result in an increased abundance of ubiquitous or atypical species.
• 4. A link between the lack of juvenile pearl mussels and a lack of suitable host fish was only rarely observed. Functional pearl mussel populations with relatively high numbers of juveniles had significantly lower densities and biomass of host fish than pearl mussel populations without recent recruitment.
• 5. This study suggests that 0+ host fish are not necessarily required to sustain functional pearl mussel populations. Low densities of host fish can be compensated by the higher glochidia carrying capacity of older host fish with limited previous contact with pearl mussel glochidia, by the long reproductive period of mussels, and by low mortality rates of juvenile mussels during their post‐parasitic phase.

Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.