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Ecological Effects of Live Salmon Exceed Those of Carcasses During an Annual Spawning Migration

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Abstract

We tested the hypothesis that the carcasses of anadromous Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) constitute a significant source of nutrients in the nutrient-poor freshwaters where these fish migrate, spawn, senesce, and die. In a 110 m-long stream reach in Southeast Alaska, we retained nearly 3000 salmon carcasses and compared streamwater nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and the biomass of benthic biofilm in this reach with an upstream reference reach. The study spanned 5 months, bracketed the entire salmon run, and encompassed significant seasonal variation in abiotic stream conditions. Concentrations of dissolved and particulate N and P followed distinctly unimodal patterns through time, which tracked the abundance of live salmon, and we observed strong predictive relationships between live-salmon abundance and streamwater-nutrient concentrations. In contrast, we did not observe clear relationships between salmon carcasses and streamwater nutrients. Biofilm biomass within our study reaches seemed to more closely track the abundance of live salmon than the abundance of carcasses. The experimental retention of carcasses had a minor or undetectable influence on nutrient concentrations and biofilm within the study reach as compared to the reference reach. We conclude that physical factors such as temperature, discharge, nutrient limitation, and irradiance vary seasonally in ways that maximize the influence of nutrients provisioned by live salmon and minimize the influence of carcass-derived nutrients on the aspects of stream ecosystems that we examined. Overall, our results promote a new perspective on the ecological role of salmon in freshwaters, and contribute to a more mechanistic understanding of how migratory fishes can influence aquatic ecosystems.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Emily Campbell, John Hudson, Jim Junker, Susan Meyer, and Alexander Reisinger for their assistance with installation of the carcass-retention devices, data collection in the field, and sample processing in the laboratory. Mike Brueseke, Suse Hebbeler, and Mia Stephens provided logistic, technical, and administrative support. Steve McCurdy (Alaska Department of Fish and Game) and Aaron and Katherine Prussian (Thorne Bay Ranger District, USDA Tongass National Forest) provided logistic and technical support, as did Jacob Berkowitz, Nick Bonzey, Dave D’Amore, Rick Edwards, and Erik Norberg (USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Aquatic and Lands Interactions Program). The authors also thank Holly Greiner and Dave Janetski who provided useful comments on an earlier version of this article. This research was funded by the USDA–CSREES National Research Initiative (Managed Ecosystems Program 2006-35101-16566).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, 46556, USA

    Scott D. Tiegs, Peter S. Levi, Janine Rüegg, Dominic T. Chaloner, Jennifer L. Tank & Gary A. Lamberti

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, 48309, USA

    Scott D. Tiegs

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  1. Scott D. Tiegs
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  2. Peter S. Levi
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  3. Janine Rüegg
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  4. Dominic T. Chaloner
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Correspondence to Scott D. Tiegs.

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Author Contributions

S.D.T. analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript along with important contributions from all co-authors. In particular, S.D.T. overviewed the field study, and P.S.L. and J.R. played important roles in the execution of the field experiments. P.S.L. coordinated data collection involving water chemistry. J.R. coordinated data collection involving biofilm and nutrient limitation assays. D.T.C., J.L.T., and G.A.L. (lead) were investigators on the grant and conceived the original study design. S.D.T. implemented important modifications to the study design. All authors reviewed and commented on the content of the manuscript.

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Appendix 1

Stoichiometric changes through time for dissolved N and P (A) and particulate C and N (B). F-ratios and P-values shown are for tests of mean differences in stoichiometric ratios between the dates before and after the onset of carcass accumulation in mid-August (vertical dashed line) (C, D) (TIFF 10877 kb)

Appendix 2

Nutrient limitation assessment of benthic algae (mean abundance of chlorophyll a +1 standard error) performed before, during, and after the salmon run in the reference reach (dark bars) and the retention reach (white bars) for N, P, and N and P together (N + P). CT indicates controls that were not augmented with nutrients. Co-limitation in indicated as N × P in the ANOVA output (TIFF 8800 kb)

Appendix 3

Nutrient limitation assessment of heterotrophic respiration (mean oxygen consumption +1 standard error) performed before, during, and after the salmon run in the reference reach (dark bars) and the retention reach (white bars) for N, P, and N and P together (N + P). CT indicates controls that were not augmented with nutrients. Co-limitation in indicated as N × P in the ANOVA output (TIFF 8801 kb)

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Tiegs, S.D., Levi, P.S., Rüegg, J. et al. Ecological Effects of Live Salmon Exceed Those of Carcasses During an Annual Spawning Migration. Ecosystems 14, 598–614 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-011-9431-0

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