skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Reconstructing the Migratory Behavior and Long-Term Survivorship of Juvenile Chinook Salmon under Contrasting Hydrologic Regimes

Journal Article · · PLoS ONE
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [8];  [9]
  1. Univ. of California, Santa Cruz, CA (United States). Institute of Marine Sciences
  2. US Fish and Wildlife Service, Lodi, CA (United States)
  3. California Department of Fish and Wildlife, La Grange, CA (United States)
  4. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
  5. Cramer Fish Sciences, Auburn, CA (United States)
  6. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States). Glenn T. Seaborg Institute
  7. Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States). Dept. of Animal Sciences
  8. Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States). Interdisciplinary Center for Plasma Mass Spectrometry
  9. Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States). Dept. of Animal Sciences; National Marine Fisheries Service, Santa Cruz, CA (United States)

The loss of genetic and life history diversity has been documented across many taxonomic groups, and is considered a leading cause of increased extinction risk. Juvenile salmon leave their natal rivers at different sizes, ages and times of the year, and it is thought that this life history variation contributes to their population sustainability, and is thus central to many recovery efforts. However, in order to preserve and restore diversity in life history traits, it is necessary to first understand how environmental factors affect their expression and success. We used otolith 87Sr/86Sr in adult Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytcha) returning to the Stanislaus River in the California Central Valley (USA) to reconstruct the sizes at which they outmigrated as juveniles in a wetter (2000) and drier (2003) year. We compared rotary screw trap-derived estimates of outmigrant timing, abundance and size with those reconstructed in the adults from the same cohort. This allowed us to estimate the relative survival and contribution of migratory phenotypes (fry, parr, smolts) to the adult spawning population under different flow regimes. Juvenile abundance and outmigration behavior varied with hydroclimatic regime, while downstream survival appeared to be driven by size- and time-selective mortality. Although fry survival is generally assumed to be negligible in this system, >20% of the adult spawners from outmigration year 2000 had outmigrated as fry. In both years, all three phenotypes contributed to the spawning population, however their relative proportions differed, reflecting greater fry contributions in the wetter year (23% vs. 10%) and greater smolt contributions in the drier year (13% vs. 44%). Furthermore, these data demonstrate that the expression and success of migratory phenotypes vary with hydrologic regime, emphasizing the importance of maintaining diversity in a changing climate.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344
OSTI ID:
1259522
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1332479
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-698181
Journal Information:
PLoS ONE, Vol. 10, Issue 5; ISSN 1932-6203
Publisher:
Public Library of ScienceCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 43 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (60)

Past and Present Status of Central Valley Chinook Salmon journal September 1994
Relation of Fish Size and Growth Rate to Migration of Spring Chinook Salmon Smolts journal August 1998
Density-dependent mortality in Pacific salmon: the ghost of impacts past? journal April 2003
Variability in fish size/otolith radius relationships among populations of Chinook salmon journal July 2010
Annual variation in size-selective mortality of Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) fry journal June 2001
Juvenile Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in and Around the San Francisco Estuary [Juvenile Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in and Around the San Francisco Estuary] journal October 2012
Size, growth, and origin-dependent mortality of juvenile Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha during early ocean residence journal July 2013
Identifying the contribution of wild and hatchery Chinook salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ) to the ocean fishery using otolith microstructure as natural tags
  • Barnett-Johnson, Rachel; Grimes, Churchill B.; Royer, Chantell F.
  • Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Vol. 64, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1139/f07-129
journal December 2007
Metapopulation dynamics journal November 1998
A critical size and period hypothesis to explain natural regulation of salmon abundance and the linkage to climate and climate change journal January 2001
Hydrologic regime and the conservation of salmon life history diversity journal July 2006
Genetic and otolith isotopic markers identify salmon populations in the Columbia River at broad and fine geographic scales journal June 2010
Biocomplexity and fisheries sustainability journal May 2003
Data from: Reconstructing the migratory behavior and long-term survivorship of juvenile Chinook salmon under contrasting hydrologic regimes
  • Sturrock, Anna M.; Wikert, J. D.; Heyne, Timothy
  • Dryad-Supplementary information for journal article at DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0122380, 2 files https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.c56rk
dataset May 2015
Effects of predator and flow manipulation on Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) survival in an imperiled estuary journal April 2012
Microstructure of Fish Otoliths journal May 1985
Turbidity Reduces Predation on Migrating Juvenile Pacific Salmon journal March 1998
Historical Abundance and Decline of Chinook Salmon in the Central Valley Region of California journal August 1998
Consequences of potential density-dependent mechanisms on recovery of ocean-type chinook salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ) journal April 2004
Quantifying the contribution of juvenile migratory phenotypes in a population of Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha journal June 2010
Why intraspecific trait variation matters in community ecology journal April 2011
The Pacific Salmon Wars: What Science Brings to the Challenge of Recovering Species journal November 2002
Match-mismatch dynamics and the relationship between ocean-entry timing and relative ocean recoveries of Central Valley fall run Chinook salmon journal September 2014
Population diversity and the portfolio effect in an exploited species journal June 2010
Salmon origin in California's Sacramento–San Joaquin river system as determined by otolith strontium isotopic composition journal January 1999
Bimodal length distributions of cultured chinook salmon and the relationship of length modes to adult survival journal June 2002
Otoliths, increments, and elements: keys to a comprehensive understanding of fish populations? journal January 2001
Validation of Sr isotopes in otoliths by laser ablation multicollector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-MC-ICPMS): opening avenues in fisheries science applications
  • Barnett-Johnson, Rachel; Ramos, Frank C.; Grimes, Churchill B.
  • Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Vol. 62, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1139/f05-194
journal November 2005
Temperature effects on juvenile anadromous salmonids in California?s central valley: what don?t we know? journal March 2004
Improved viability of populations with diverse life-history portfolios journal December 2009
Coevolution of the Pacific salmon and Pacific Rim topography journal January 2000
River regulation, decline of ecological resources, and potential for restoration in a semi-arid lands river in the western USA journal November 2004
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Recurrent evolution of life history ecotypes in sockeye salmon: implications for conservation and future evolution: Recurrent evolution of ecotypes in sockeye salmon journal February 2008
Weakened portfolio effect in a collapsed salmon population complex journal September 2011
Sensitivity of survival to migration routes used by juvenile Chinook salmon to negotiate the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta journal February 2012
Delta Flow Factors Influencing Stray Rate of Escaping Adult San Joaquin River Fall-Run Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) [Delta Flow Factors Influencing Stray Rate of Escaping Adult San Joaquin River Fall-Run Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)] journal December 2012
Central Valley Salmon: A Perspective on Chinook and Steelhead in the Central Valley of California [Central Valley Salmon: A Perspective on Chinook and Steelhead in the Central Valley of California] journal September 2006
Reconstructing the lives of fish using Sr isotopes in otoliths journal June 2002
Tracking natal origins of salmon using isotopes, otoliths, and landscape geology journal July 2008
Life-History Divergence in Chinook Salmon: Historic Contingency and Parallel Evolution journal February 2004
Otoliths of Chinook Salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ): Daily Growth Increments and Factors Influencing Their Production journal October 1982
Effects of High Water Temperature on Growth, Smoltification, and Predator Avoidance in Juvenile Sacramento RiverChinook Salmon journal February 2004
Can otolith elemental chemistry retrospectively track migrations in fully marine fishes? journal July 2012
Quantifying the effects of wind, upwelling, curl, sea surface temperature and sea level height on growth and maturation of a California Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) population journal July 2007
Natural isotope markers in salmon journal June 1997
The Decline of Anadromous Fishes in California journal September 1994
A review of local adaptation in Salmonidac, with particular reference to Pacific and Atlantic salmon journal October 1991
Designing Optimal Flow Patterns for Fall Chinook Salmon in a Central Valley, California, River journal February 2003
Managed Metapopulations: Do Salmon Hatchery ‘Sources’ Lead to In-River ‘Sinks’ in Conservation? journal February 2012
Spatiotemporal patterns in migration timing of coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) smolts in North America journal August 2010
Response of juvenile Chinook salmon to managed flow: lessons learned from a population at the southern extent of their range in North America journal February 2014
Coevolution of the Pacific salmon and Pacific Rim topography journal December 2000
Metapopulation Dynamics: Perspectives from Landscape Ecology book January 2004
Life-History Divergence in Chinook Salmon: Historic Contingency and Parallel Evolution journal January 2004
Unnatural selection of salmon life histories in a modified riverscape dataset January 2019
Strontium isotope compositions of river waters as records of lithology-dependent mass transfers: the Garonne river and its tributaries (SW France) journal August 2000
Specifying divergent migrations in the concept of stock: the contingent hypothesis journal October 1999
Adaptive phenotypic plasticity: consensus and controversy journal May 1995
Competitive Differences between Newly Emerged Offspring of Captive-Reared and Wild Coho Salmon journal September 1999
Marine Distributions of Chinook Salmon from the West Coast of North America Determined by Coded Wire Tag Recoveries journal January 2010

Cited By (16)

Unnatural selection of salmon life histories in a modified riverscape dataset January 2019
To sea or not to sea? Multiple lines of evidence reveal the contribution of non‐diadromous recruitment for supporting endemic fish populations within New Zealand's longest river journal March 2019
Survival of Juvenile Fall-Run Chinook Salmon through the San Joaquin River Delta, California, 2010-2015 journal May 2018
Effects of Extreme Hydrologic Regimes on Juvenile Chinook Salmon Prey Resources and Diet Composition in a Large River Floodplain journal February 2018
A Mosaic of Estuarine Habitat Types with Prey Resources from Multiple Environmental Strata Supports a Diversified Foraging Portfolio for Juvenile Chinook Salmon journal August 2019
Strontium isotopes reveal ephemeral streams used for spawning and rearing by an imperilled potamodromous cyprinid Clear Lake hitch Lavinia exilicauda chi journal January 2019
Validating Fin Ray Microchemistry as a Tool to Reconstruct the Migratory History of White Sturgeon journal April 2017
Quantifying habitat use of migratory fish across riverscapes using space‐time isotope models journal May 2019
Unnatural selection of salmon life histories in a modified riverscape journal December 2019
Shifting habitat mosaics and fish production across river basins journal May 2019
Fishery collapse, recovery, and the cryptic decline of wild salmon on a major California river journal November 2018
Decoupling outmigration from marine survival indicates outsized influence of streamflow on cohort success for California’s Chinook salmon populations journal August 2019
Climate vulnerability assessment for Pacific salmon and steelhead in the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem journal July 2019
Data from: Reconstructing the migratory behavior and long-term survivorship of juvenile Chinook salmon under contrasting hydrologic regimes
  • Sturrock, Anna M.; Wikert, J. D.; Heyne, Timothy
  • Dryad-Supplementary information for journal article at DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0122380, 2 files https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.c56rk
dataset May 2015
Estimating Common Growth Patterns in Juvenile Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) from Diverse Genetic Stocks and a Large Spatial Extent journal October 2016
Anadromous Salmonids in the Delta: New Science 2006-2016 journal July 2016