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Ontogenetic habitat shifts and vulnerability: lake-outlet-spawning sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) sensitivity to habitat connectivity and hydrologic change

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Abstract

Sockeye salmon that spawn downstream of rearing lakes are an important example of the challenges faced by organisms with complex life histories requiring connectivity in aquatic habitat complexes. Specifically, newly emerged juvenile sockeye salmon must migrate upstream, against the flow of water, if they are to reach lake rearing habitat. Here, we examine the spatial and temporal dynamics of the water velocity landscape and juvenile sockeye salmon movement and condition at increasing distances downstream from the lake outlet of an important sockeye salmon system, the Babine Lake of British Columbia, one of Canada’s largest and most important sockeye salmon rearing lakes. The results of this study indicate that (i) there were seasonal and spatial patterns of water velocities that exceed the ability of juveniles to swim upstream to lake rearing habitat, (ii) higher water discharge was associated with more velocity barriers and potentially with less upstream movement of juveniles, and (iii) juveniles rearing in the lake obtained larger sizes (30% longer and 150% heavier) than those in downstream river habitats. Multiple processes that may be influencing these patterns could include more abundant food resources, lower metabolic demands, or size-selective immigration, emigration, or mortality among habitats. Years and seasons with high discharge may temporarily create one-way, downstream transport routes at lake outlets. Long-term changes in hydrology, perhaps driven by climate variability or land-use change, may control the degree to which lake outlets function as bidirectional travel corridors or one-way travel routes for young sockeye salmon.

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Acknowledgements

This research is part of a collaboration between Lake Babine Nation Fisheries Department and Simon Fraser University. The authors would like to thank Angel Marlowe, Fern Marlowe, Christie West, Clifford Aslin, and Peter Greene for field and logistical support. We would like to thank David Patterson and his research group, of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, for supporting laboratory analyses. We would like to thank the Lake Babine Nation Fisheries Department, Tides Canada, and the Pacific Salmon Foundation for funding this work. We also thank the Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition, the Skeena Wild Conservation Trust, the Liber Ero Foundation, Billy Labonte and Babine Norlakes, the Salmon Watersheds Lab, and the Earth to Ocean Research Group for making this research possible.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Earth to Ocean Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

    Elissa K. Sweeney-Bergen & Jonathan W. Moore

  2. Fisheries Department, Lake Babine Nation, Burns Lake, British Columbia, Canada

    Elissa K. Sweeney-Bergen & Donna Macintyre

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  1. Elissa K. Sweeney-Bergen
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  2. Donna Macintyre
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Correspondence to Elissa K. Sweeney-Bergen.

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All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. All procedures performed in studies involving animals were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Canadian Council on Animal Care and the Simon Fraser University Animal Care Committee (protocols 1129B-14, 1158B-11, and 1158B-11-23).

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Supplementary Information

Fig. S1

Babine River discharge on the average observed peak emergence date for Lower Babine River sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka). Data were recorded at the Water Survey of Canada station, located on the west bank, approximately 25 m below the enumeration weir. Note: In 1964 and 1965, downstream travel peak was observed on June 15th. In 1966, the peak was observed June 7th. In 2015 and 2016 the peak was observed between May 29th-June 1st (PNG 173 kb)

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Fig. S2

Historical spawn timing for Lower Babine River sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka). Points without error bars are precise date recordings, error bars added when only week or month are recorded in historical archives (PNG 121 kb)

High Resolution Image (TIFF 80902 kb)

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Sweeney-Bergen, E.K., Macintyre, D. & Moore, J.W. Ontogenetic habitat shifts and vulnerability: lake-outlet-spawning sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) sensitivity to habitat connectivity and hydrologic change. Environ Biol Fish 104, 383–399 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-021-01071-1

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