Vampires in the Basement: Lessons about species-at-risk, exotic invasions, and ecological restoration from the wise fishes of Jasper and Willmore
Dr. Michael Sullivan, Alberta Cooperative Conservation Research Unit What have our travels in the mountains taught us?
1) Ecosystems are complex 2) “Species-at-Risk” usually mean “Systems-at-Risk” 3) Ecosystem changes may be irreversible
Learn to appreciate change
Chaba River area, JNP March 2007 Vampires in the Basement Creatures that are around, but quite rare …until some evil thing occurs upstairs, and the vampires come out of the basement, and life as we know it is changed forever
Hardscrabble Creek Azure Lake
Whitetail deer “Vampires” and “Invasives” becoming important in our understanding of Nature Whitetails are the “Vampires in the Basement” for JNP and Willmore caribou
Tonquin Valley area, Summer 2007 Mark Bradley photo Queen Elizabeth Range, JNP Feb 2009 Rock Lake area (Hinton) Nov 2008 Clearcuts (or burns) alter habitat (old-growth becomes young) Young forest = increased “invasive” deer, that increase wolves Wolves enjoy deer, but love caribou Caribou decline
Starlight Range, JNP July 2008 Clearcuts Grande Cache (1000’s of ’em) Clearcuts (1000’s of ’em)
Caribou range (A La Peche Herd)
Hinton
50 km (30 miles)
JNP (1/2 day wolf travel)
Jasper Heraclitus (575 BC): You cannot step in the same river twice
If the ecosystem has changed, can we restore a single species?
Mowitch Creek, JNP July 2008 The decline of a charismatic species is usually (always?) symptomatic of a complex ecosystem shift, often invisible, often irreversible
Starlight Range, JNP July 2008 Millions of people 0.5 1.5 2.5 3.5 0 1 2 3 4 1900
Human populationoftheCanadianprairieprovinces 1910 Manitoba Saskatchewan Alberta
1920
Oil boomattractedpeople 1930
1940 1947
1950
Year
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
Oil boom attracts people Oil boom attracts people Wolf Lake 2008 Alberta walleye are old… really old
50 cm walleye 1060 g = slow growth = low productivity = easily overharvested
29 year-old (born in 1978) Low Productivity meets Heavy Fishing Pressure
Success rate of anglers 80
Restricted access
Open access Primrose Lake 60 Air Weapons Range
Edmonton
40
Calgary
20 % Success (walleye kept)
0 COLD COLD WOLF WOLF HILDA HILDA ETHEL ETHEL AMISK AMISK MOOSE MOOSE MOORE MOORE MURIEL MURIEL GARNER GARNER SPENCER SPENCER KEHEWIN KEHEWIN BAPTISTE BAPTISTE SKELETON SKELETON PRIMROSE PRIMROSE GREGOIRE GREGOIRE STE. ANNE STE. ANNE PINEHURST PINEHURST IRONWOOD IRONWOOD FRENCHMAN FRENCHMAN NORTH BUCK BUCK NORTH TOUCHWOOD’84 TOUCHWOOD’84 TOUCHWOOD’89 TOUCHWOOD’89 FLOATINGSTONE FLOATINGSTONE Road-accessible Alberta lakes collapsed by 1990s Why not just stock more fish?
Walleye stocked in Alberta for > 80 years
116 lakes stocked on 364 different occasions
Stocking successful (self-sustaining) at 5 lakes 1 of these 5 was restoration Stocking walleye mostly unsuccessful in Alberta Why?
Abundant small fishes at collapsed walleye lakes
Few Walleye abundance Many (CUE) Loss of Cultivation Effects: Walleye and Shiners
Complex predator-prey interaction Depensatory loss of cultivation effect
Walleye adults eat minnows
Minnow adults eat walleye fry
Overfishing alters interaction
New ecosystem unsuitable for stocking Ecosystem changes: replacement of apex predators
1.6 800 12 large commercial fisheries
1.4 Walleye
1.2 600 Birds on breeding colonies 4 major breeding colonies 1.0 Cormorants (x 10) White Pelicans 0.8 400
0.6
0.4 200 Commercial harvest of walleye (kg/ha) Commercial 0.2
0 0 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 Year Quote of the Decade
One of the biggest mistakes in the development of fisheries science has been the broad assumption that this science is about fish. Walters and Martell (2004)
Replacement of apex predators, caused by “Vampires”
1.6 Walleye 800
1.4
1.2 600 Birds on breeding colonies Few walleye 4 major breeding colonies 1.0 Cormorants (x 10) Many perch White Pelicans 0.8 (=irruptive species) 400
0.6 Few grazing plankton
0.4 200 Commercial harvest of walleye (kg/ha) Commercial 0.2 12 large Alberta commercial fisheries 0 0 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980Green water1990 Year Vampires in the Basement
Talbot Lake, JNP
New Bird Community Loons unusually abundant 8 breeding pairs, 8 chicks fledged in 2002 340 ha lake
Original Fish Community Big Pike, lake whitefish, & spottail shiners (rare)
New Fish Community Heavy fishing pressure (1960s – 1990s) Whitefish very rare, large (>80cm) pike rare Spottails now very abundant Ecosystem changes: replacement of apex predators
Talbot Lake, JNP
Loons = Popular tourist attraction
Vergas, Minnesota 2008 Loon Princess and her posse 2008 Loon Queen and Loon Princess Ecosystem changes: replacement of apex predators
Peyto Viewpoint Talbot Lake, JNP
Talbot Lake is now notable destination for wildlife tours
More loons = more tours = $ and appreciation for nature
Restored lake = more big pike = fewer loons Will society benefit more from loons or pike? Vampires in the JNP Backcountry?
Across all Canadian National Parks, the most fishing licences were consistently issued in Jasper
Legacy of being the fishing national park has left very loud echos
Unnamed lake (with bull trout!) Upper Miette drainage August 2006
Fish Story from the Smoky River Drainage
Upper Smoky system originally fishless
Headwater lake (Adolphus Lake)
Stocked in 1963, Brook trout (native to east coast, Appalachia)
August 2007 No fish in Adolphus No adult brookies for 40 km below Adolphus Chown Creek area, North Boundary Trail country Brookies trickle down from Upper Smoky to native Alberta bull trout water Brook trout outcompete and hybridize with native bull trout Hybrid fishes less adapted to natural environment = loss of bull trout
Brook Trout Alberta’s Official Provincial Fish
Bull Trout
Approx. 700 adult brook trout More than a few new fishes… More than a few exotic fishes…
Ecosystem shift Tough questions Should we restore Jasper’s fishless ecosystems?
Can we restore Jasper’s fishless ecosystems? Should we restore JNP’s fishless ecosystem? Does society want to eliminate fish-dependant birds, mammals? Triage: $$ not infinite; is this the best way to spend it? Pro: brookie removal protects bull trout in Willmore (downstream) Con: without brookie removal, we’ll recommend no fishing for bull trout in Willmore
No fishing = infringement of treaty rights
Aseniwuche Winewak (Rocky Mtn. Cree) Can we restore JNP’s fishless ecosystem?
Some wise folks say, “No” We might (and should!) restore lakes, maybe streams, but not ecosystems
Never underestimate our ability to overfish… We’re the folks who fished out the North Atlantic…
…overfishing damage extends far beyond cod Can we restore Jasper’s fishless ecosystems? Industrial-strength ecosystem disturbance (repeatedly, for years)
Massive poisoning & netting of lakes and streams - chemical side-effects, friendly fire People living and working in area for years - caribou , grizzlies disturbed - no longer a wilderness $$$ and effort that could go elsewhere Should we accept the (probably) inevitable changes of ecosystem shifts?
Should we learn to appreciate brookies and loons and wolves? Edward Abbey The Journey Home: Some Words in Defense of the American West. 1988. “One final paragraph of advice:
Do not burn yourselves out. Be like I am – a reluctant enthusiast…, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and Thank you adventure.
It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, explore the forests, encounter the grizz, climb the mountains, run the rivers.
Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much:
I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound people with their hearts in a safe deposit box and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators.
I promise you this: you will outlive the bastards.” Ed Abbey