Restoration Effectiveness Monitoring

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Restoration Effectiveness Monitoring

• Salmon Habitat Occurrence at Mirror Lake
  Restoration Site
• Lyndal Johnson, NOAA Fisheries

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Participating NOAA Scientists
Field Sampling Paul Olson Sean Sol Ecotoxicology
Program Staff Salmonid Prey Kate
Macneale Otolith Analyses Paul
Chittaro Chemistry Analyses Gina
Ylitalo Environmental Assessment Program
Staff Genetic Analyses David Teel Conservation
Biology Division Staff
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Salmon Sampling Sites
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Site 1 Mirror Lake
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Site 2 - Young Creek
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Site 3 Latourell Creek
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Site 4 - Culvert
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Fish Sampling Methods

• Sites sampled from April through September 2008
• Fish collected with
• Puget Sound beach seine (PSBS) (37 x 2.4 m, 10 mm
  mesh size)
• baby beach seine (BBS) (10 x 1.5 m, 5 mm mesh
  size) (shallow water sites where boat deployment
  not possible)
• modified block net (MBN) where the middle portion
  of PSBS was used as a block net and a second net
  (2 x 1.5m, 10 mm mesh size) was used as a fish
  chase net (narrow steam channels)
• 3 sets per sampling time

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Site 4 - Culvert
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Site 4 - Culvert
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Fish Sampling Methods (cont)

• All fish identified to species and counted
• Salmonids check for adipose fin clips
• A subset of salmonids (up to 30) measured and
  weighed
• Fin clips collected for stock determination and
  otoliths for growth rate collected for chinook
  salmon
• Water temperature and dissolved oxygen measured
  weather, habitat conditions, and vegetation noted

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Prey Sampling

• Four types of invertebrate collections
• Open water neuston tows (3 tows at each site at
  each sampling time)
• Emergent vegetation neuston tows (3 tows at each
  site at each sampling time)
• Terrestrial sweep netting (3 collections at each
  site at each sampling time)
• Benthic core sampling with coring device made of
  5 cm PVC tubing, inserted 10 cm into the
  sediment. (5 cores at each site at each sampling
  time)
• Neuston tow samples were sieved, invertebrates
  were removed and transferred to a labeled glass
  jar or Ziploc bag. The jar or bag was then filled
  with 95 ethanol so that the entire sample was
  covered.
• Insects from sweep net were transferred from the
  net into labeled plastic bags or jars containing
  some ethanol to both kill the inverts and trap
  them in the bag or jar. Additional ethanol was
  when added to preserve the samples.
• The macrofauna from benthic core were retained on
  a 0.5-mm sieve, washed, transferred to labeled
  jars and preserved in ethanol.

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Mirror Lake Effectiveness Monitoring Results
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Species composition
All species
Salmon only
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Seasonal trends in salmon abundance
Coho salmon Wild coho abundant at Young Creek
(2) especially July through August Very few
wild or hatchery coho in lake Present at the
culvert in May mostly hatchery
Chinook salmon Much less abundant than
coho Present only in lake and at
culvert Significant numbers only in May Mostly
wild fish except in August
Percentages indicate wild (unmarked) fish
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Chinook salmon stock composition
No marked fish at Mirror Lake 1 One marked fish
at Mirror Lake 4 (SCG)
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Chinook growth rates(estimated from otolith
analysis)
Not significantly different from other Columbia
Gorge sites, but growth tended to be higher in
fish from Mirror Lake 1.
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Condition data for chinook
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Condition data for coho
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Water temperature at Mirror Lake salmon sites
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Contaminant dataPAH metabolites in bile
Threshold above which adverse effects are likely
(2000 ng/mg protein Meador et al. 2008)
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Preliminary Prey Information

• Samples collected
• 98 invertebrate samples
• 32 individual Chinook salmon stomach contents
  samples
• Preliminary observations indicate
• Chironomidae (midge) larvae and pupae and
  Cladocerans (water fleas) will dominate open
  water collections
• Odonata (dragonfly) and Trichoptera (caddisfly)
  larvae will dominate emergent vegetation
  collections.
• Chironomidae adults and other Diptera (fly)
  adults will dominate the terrestrial sweep
  collections.
• Sample processing is currently being conducted by
  CREST staff.

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Summary of Findings

• Many juvenile coho using site, at least upstream
  (Young Creek) appear be mainly wild production
  from local area
• Relatively few chinook those found at the site
  are likely are entering the area from the main
  stem Columbia since only at culvert and lake
  sites most from Upper Columbia or Snake River
  stocks.
• Growth rate and condition of chinook and coho are
  comparable to those from other Gorge area sites
  tend to be higher at lake than in culvert
• Suitable prey appears to be present at sites,
  based on preliminary observations
• Low levels of PAH contamination, based on chinook
  bile metabolites
• Site 2 (Young Creek) has low water temperatures
  all season favorable habitat
• High water temperature at Site 1 (Lake) may
  discourage coho from moving downstream into this
  area and into the mainstem, and discourage use of
  area by chinook juveniles later in season