Between the Gravel and the Sea: Vital Role of the Willamette River for Chinook Salmon
“The Willamette River from a Mountain” Paul Kane, 1847 Willamette Riverkeepers Kirk Schroeder Luke Whitman Brian Cannon Paul Olmsted Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
USFWS – Sport Fish Restoration Funds Army Corps of Engineers Willamette Basin: Columbia River Largest watershed in Oregon 70% of Oregon Portland population Willamette Falls
Largest urban areas in Oregon
Dams block access to upper reaches of Salem Spring Chinook North Santiam River rivers
Albany Corvallis South Santiam River Spring Chinook ‘threatened” species 1999 Harrisburg Recovery Plan 2011
Eugene-Springfield Between the Gravel and the Sea
Building Your Conceptual Model
I. Willamette as II. Willamette River within Migration Corridor Connected Landscape
Reductionist Reservoir Complexity releases Dams control River Life History Expression Spawning Hatcheries control Fish Area Seasonal habitats Production Flows & Temperature Single Life History Access to Floodplains Legacy of Pollution Willamette Cold Water Refugia River = Bad Neighborhood River Restoring Channel Complexity & Connectivity Flow Management = Flushing Flows Columbia River Pacific Ocean Life History Diversity Wild Juvenile Chinook in McKenzie at Leaburg Dam Migration from Spawning Areas Migration of Wild Juvenile Chinook past Willamette Falls Tagged at Leaburg Dam in fall or spring
Most Fall migrants overwinter in Willamette Spring migrants spend < 1 month – 3 months in Willamette Fry Dispersal & Rearing Santiam basin – early migration Influence of dams
McKenzie – later migration Colder water
Migration to lower Willamette & Columbia
Fry dispersed throughout Willamette by late February to early March
Most migrate as smolts in June & July
March 2011 (37 – 72 mm) Long Distance Fry Dispersal – What’s up with that? Hypothesis: Adaptation to access productive rearing habitat in Willamette Fall Chinook absent upstream of Willamette Falls
Visualization of upper Willamette River downstream of McKenzie confluence - 1850
Hulse et al. 2004. Ecological Applications 14: 325–341 Length of spring Chinook salmon captured as fry ( ) or juveniles ( ) Willamette and upper McKenzie rivers 2012 Willamette Juvenile Chinook Diversity (Bet-Hedging)
Spawning Tributary Precocial Male
Fall Spring Fry Fingerling 2-year Migrant Migrant
Lower Tributary & Willamette River
Winter-Spring Spring-Summer Summer Fall-Winter Spring
Non-natal Streams Fall Fry Subyearling Feb- Migrant May Spring Migrant Mar- May- Jun- Oct- Nov- Feb- Jan- ? (Aug-Sep) Jun Jun Jul Dec Jan Apr Columbia River
May- Mar- Apr- Apr- Jul May May Jun Ocean Life History Diversity – Spreading the Risks
Spawning Fry Migration
Subyearling
Dave Herasimtschuk © FI
Willamette Rearing Yearling
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Poor freshwater conditions
Subyearling
Yearling
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6
Poor ocean conditions
Brian Franklin Life History Diversity Provides Stability to Populations Proportion of returning adult Chinook that migrated as subyearling or yearling smolts
1998 – 2006 brood years McKenzie North Santiam South Santiam Clackamas
1998 2000 2003 2005 McKenzie River Return of Wild Spring Chinook Salmon
CV = 48%
CV = 55% Temperature Density Flow Floods WillametteIncubation ChinookSpawners Challenge Incubation or Model TimingThis! Rearing Fry Rearing Magnitude Migration Subyearlings Migration Connectivity Fry Movers Stayers
Jan–Jun Apr–Jul Oct–Dec Feb–May
Upper Willamette Upper Willamette
Mid Willamette Autumn/Winter of Mid Willamette first year
Summer of first year Spring of second year Apr–Jul Feb–Jun Subyearling Smolt Yearling Dynamic Rivers provide Diverse Habitats that support Diverse Life Histories
Pools for larger fish Refuge areas during floods
Productive riffles Narrow channels with shade
New gravel bars & Small side channels islands
Cold water pockets Shallow edges for fry
Willamette River downstream of McKenzie confluence – Green Island David Hulse, U of O, Landscape Architecture & River Design Group Measuring Progress—Biological & Social Connections
Life History Diversity Channel complexity
Water Quality Native Species Richness
Working Farms & Conservation Connect People to River
Historic Trajectory Future Trajectory?
Historical Willamette River Channel Change - S. Gregory, L. Ashkenas, D. Oetter, P. Minear, K. Wildman In honor of Jim Sedell (1944 – 2012)
Within the time scale of a person’s lifetime and the lifetimes of his or her children and grandchildren, entire ecosystems change. Ironically, however, it is within this time scale that people are most blind to changes occurring around them.