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Title: Managed Metapopulations: Do Salmon Hatchery ‘Sources’ Lead to In-River ‘Sinks’ in Conservation?

Abstract

Maintaining viable populations of salmon in the wild is a primary goal for many conservation and recovery programs. The frequency and extent of connectivity among natal sources defines the demographic and genetic boundaries of a population. Yet, the role that immigration of hatchery-produced adults may play in altering population dynamics and fitness of natural populations remains largely unquantified. Quantifying, whether natural populations are self-sustaining, functions as sources (population growth rate in the absence of dispersal, λ>1), or as sinks (λ<1) can be obscured by an inability to identify immigrants. In this study we use a new isotopic approach to demonstrate that a natural spawning population of Chinook salmon, (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) considered relatively healthy, represents a sink population when the contribution of hatchery immigrants is taken into consideration. We retrieved sulfur isotopes (34S/32S, referred to as δ34S) in adult Chinook salmon otoliths (ear bones) that were deposited during their early life history as juveniles to determine whether individuals were produced in hatcheries or naturally in rivers. Our results show that only 10.3% (CI=5.5 to 18.1%) of adults spawning in the river had otolith δ34S values less than 8.5‰, which is characteristic of naturally produced salmon. When considering the total return tomore » the watershed (total fish in river and hatchery), we estimate that 90.7 to 99.3% (CI) of returning adults were produced in a hatchery (best estimate=95.9%). When population growth rate of the natural population was modeled to account for the contribution of previously unidentified hatchery immigrants, we found that hatchery-produced fish caused the false appearance of positive population growth. In conclusion, these findings highlight the potential dangers in ignoring source-sink dynamics in recovering natural populations, and question the extent to which declines in natural salmon populations are undetected by monitoring programs.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [6]
  1. Univ. of California, Santa Cruz, CA (United States). Inst. of Marine Sciences
  2. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States). Chemical Sciences Division
  3. US Fish and Wildlife Service, Stockton, CA (United States). Anadromous Fish Restoration Program
  4. East Bay Municipal Utility District, Lodi, CA (United States)
  5. National Marine Fisheries Service, Santa Cruz, CA (United States). Southwest Fisheries Science Center
  6. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States). Dept. of Earth and Space Sciences
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE; National Science Foundation (NSF); US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
OSTI Identifier:
1396206
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-426609
Journal ID: ISSN 1932-6203
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC52-07NA27344
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
PLoS ONE
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 7; Journal Issue: 2; Journal ID: ISSN 1932-6203
Publisher:
Public Library of Science
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; 59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

Citation Formats

Johnson, Rachel C., Weber, Peter K., Wikert, John D., Workman, Michelle L., MacFarlane, R. Bruce, Grove, Marty J., and Schmitt, Axel K. Managed Metapopulations: Do Salmon Hatchery ‘Sources’ Lead to In-River ‘Sinks’ in Conservation?. United States: N. p., 2012. Web. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0028880.
Johnson, Rachel C., Weber, Peter K., Wikert, John D., Workman, Michelle L., MacFarlane, R. Bruce, Grove, Marty J., & Schmitt, Axel K. Managed Metapopulations: Do Salmon Hatchery ‘Sources’ Lead to In-River ‘Sinks’ in Conservation?. United States. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0028880
Johnson, Rachel C., Weber, Peter K., Wikert, John D., Workman, Michelle L., MacFarlane, R. Bruce, Grove, Marty J., and Schmitt, Axel K. Wed . "Managed Metapopulations: Do Salmon Hatchery ‘Sources’ Lead to In-River ‘Sinks’ in Conservation?". United States. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0028880. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1396206.
@article{osti_1396206,
title = {Managed Metapopulations: Do Salmon Hatchery ‘Sources’ Lead to In-River ‘Sinks’ in Conservation?},
author = {Johnson, Rachel C. and Weber, Peter K. and Wikert, John D. and Workman, Michelle L. and MacFarlane, R. Bruce and Grove, Marty J. and Schmitt, Axel K.},
abstractNote = {Maintaining viable populations of salmon in the wild is a primary goal for many conservation and recovery programs. The frequency and extent of connectivity among natal sources defines the demographic and genetic boundaries of a population. Yet, the role that immigration of hatchery-produced adults may play in altering population dynamics and fitness of natural populations remains largely unquantified. Quantifying, whether natural populations are self-sustaining, functions as sources (population growth rate in the absence of dispersal, λ>1), or as sinks (λ<1) can be obscured by an inability to identify immigrants. In this study we use a new isotopic approach to demonstrate that a natural spawning population of Chinook salmon, (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) considered relatively healthy, represents a sink population when the contribution of hatchery immigrants is taken into consideration. We retrieved sulfur isotopes (34S/32S, referred to as δ34S) in adult Chinook salmon otoliths (ear bones) that were deposited during their early life history as juveniles to determine whether individuals were produced in hatcheries or naturally in rivers. Our results show that only 10.3% (CI=5.5 to 18.1%) of adults spawning in the river had otolith δ34S values less than 8.5‰, which is characteristic of naturally produced salmon. When considering the total return to the watershed (total fish in river and hatchery), we estimate that 90.7 to 99.3% (CI) of returning adults were produced in a hatchery (best estimate=95.9%). When population growth rate of the natural population was modeled to account for the contribution of previously unidentified hatchery immigrants, we found that hatchery-produced fish caused the false appearance of positive population growth. In conclusion, these findings highlight the potential dangers in ignoring source-sink dynamics in recovering natural populations, and question the extent to which declines in natural salmon populations are undetected by monitoring programs.},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0028880},
journal = {PLoS ONE},
number = 2,
volume = 7,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Feb 08 00:00:00 EST 2012},
month = {Wed Feb 08 00:00:00 EST 2012}
}

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Differences in juvenile phenotypes and survival between hatchery stocks and a natural population provide evidence for modified selection due to captive breeding
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Works referencing / citing this record:

Eight Decades of Hatchery Salmon Releases in the California Central Valley: Factors Influencing Straying and Resilience
journal, June 2019

  • Sturrock, Anna M.; Satterthwaite, William H.; Cervantes‐Yoshida, Kristina M.
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  • DOI: 10.1002/fsh.10267

Survival of Juvenile Fall-Run Chinook Salmon through the San Joaquin River Delta, California, 2010-2015
journal, May 2018

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Eco-evolutionary dynamics, density-dependent dispersal and collective behaviour: implications for salmon metapopulation robustness
journal, March 2018

  • Yeakel, Justin D.; Gibert, Jean P.; Gross, Thilo
  • Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 373, Issue 1746
  • DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2017.0018

Supportive breeders of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar have reduced fitness in nature
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The use of otolith chemistry to characterize diadromous migrations
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Weakening portfolio effect strength in a hatchery-supplemented Chinook salmon population complex
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Fishery collapse, recovery, and the cryptic decline of wild salmon on a major California river
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Eco-evolutionary dynamics, density-dependent dispersal and collective behaviour: implications for salmon metapopulation robustness
journal, March 2018

  • Yeakel, Justin D.; Gibert, Jean P.; Gross, Thilo
  • Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 373, Issue 1746
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