Life History Patterns and Habitat Use in the Upper Columbia

Greer MaierScience Program ManagerUpper Columbia Salmon Recovery Board

GOALS OF THE SESSION• Improve current understanding of life history and

habitat use of listed salmonids in order to inform ongoing recovery plan implementation.

• Create dialogue between project sponsors, decision-makers, and research and monitoring entities.

• Generate a summary of information gaps and current information about life history and habitat use of UC populations.

WHY IS LIFE HISTORY IMPORTANT?• Diverse life histories contribute to population

resilience.

• Habitat opportunity, capacity, and performance can be greatly influenced by life history (and vise versa) AND Habitat opportunity, capacity, and performance can greatly influence population capacity, growth, and productivity (and vise versa)

• Effective and efficient recovery strategies, actions, and decisions are often based on our understanding of life history and habitat use.

WHAT IS LIFE HISTORY?

• Life history is defined as the combination of traits exhibited by an organism throughout its life cycle.

• Life history characteristics can be imagined as various investments and tradeoffs in growth, reproduction, and survivorship.

WHY IS LIFE HISTORY IMPORTANT?

Simenstad and Fresh

HOW ARE HABITAT & LIFE HISTORY LINKED?

Simenstad and Fresh

• Long-Term (generations)• Genetics• Habitat and Environmental Conditions

• Short-Term (year-to-year)• Individual Behavior• Growth and Performance• Carrying Capacity• Habitat and Environmental Conditions

WHAT DRIVES LIFE HISTORY?

WHAT DRIVES LIFE HISTORY?

Simenstad and Fresh

EXISTING RESOURCES• General life history patterns in UC (e.g. Chapman et

al. 1995, Peven 2003, UCSRB 2007, Andonegui 2001)

• Emerging Research (e.g. Tomaro et al. 2012, Miller 2011, Tucker et al. 2011, Benjamin et al. 2012)

• PIT Tag Datasets

• Ongoing modeling efforts

General Life History PatternsSPRING CHINOOK

Spring (Mid-May peak)Adult Migration

Late Summer (August-Sept peak)Spawning

Early Spring Emergence Summer Parr RearingFall Juvenile Redistribution

Juvenile Overwintering

Spring (May Peak) SmoltMigration

Days-to-months estuarine rearing

1-4 years (2-3 average) ocean rearing

General Life History PatternsSTEELHEAD

Summer (Aug-Sept Peak)Adult Migration

Following Spring (April peak)Spawning

Summer Emergence Fall Parr RearingJuvenile Rearing 1-7 years

(2-3 years average)

Spring (April-May Peak) Smolt Migration

Days-to-months estuarine rearing

1-4 years (2 years average) ocean rearing

FOCAL SPECIES & LIFE STAGES

• Spring Chinook, Steelhead, and Bull Trout

• Adult Migration/Holding• Spawning• Fry• Summer Parr• Winter Juvenile• Emigrant

KEY QUESTIONSBY LIFE STAGE, BY SUBBASIN:• Timing• Age-structure• Areas of occupancy and use• Movement and Behavior• Habitat characteristics and environmental

factors• Survival, growth, and carrying capacity