1. Estimating Coho Salmon Rearing Habitat and Smolt Production Losses in a Large River Basin, and Implications for Habitat Restoration
- Author
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Larry Wasserman, Eric M. Beamer, and Timothy J. Beechie
- Subjects
geography ,geography.geographical_feature_category ,Ecology ,biology ,Drainage basin ,Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law ,Aquatic Science ,Structural basin ,biology.organism_classification ,Fishery ,Habitat ,Tributary ,Oncorhynchus ,Environmental science ,Restoration ecology ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics - Abstract
To develop a habitat restoration strategy for the 8,270-km2 Skagit River basin, we estimated changes in smolt production of coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch since European settlement began in the basin, based on changes in summer and winter rearing habitat areas. We assessed changes in coho salmon smolt production by habitat type and by cause of habitat alteration. We estimated that the coho salmon smolt production capacity of summer habitats in the Skagit River basin has been reduced from 1.28 million smolts to 0.98 million smolts (–24%) and that the production capacity of winter habitats has been reduced from 1.77 million to 1.17 million smolts (–34%). The largest proportion of summer non-main-stem habitat losses has occurred in side-channel sloughs (41%), followed by losses in small tributaries (31%) and distributary sloughs (29%). The largest loss of winter habitats has occurred in side-channel sloughs (52%), followed by losses in distributary sloughs (37%) and small tributaries (11%). By typ...
- Published
- 1994