Home Range Analysis of Bull Trout (Salvelinus Confluentus)
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HOME RANGE ANALYSIS OF BULL TROUT (SALVELINUS CONFLUENTUS) AND WESTSLOPE CUTTHROAT TROUT (ONCORHYNCHUS CLARKI LEWISI) IN THE UPPER SALMON RIVER BASIN, IDAHO. by Gregory P. Schoby A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science in the Department of Biology Idaho State University May 2006 Photocopy and Use Authorization In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for an advanced degree at Idaho State University, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for inspection. I further state that permission for extensive copying of my thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Dean of Graduate Studies, Dean of my academic division, or by the University Librarian. It is understood that any copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. ii Copyright 2006 Gregory P. Schoby iii To the Graduate Faculty: The members of the committee appointed to examine the thesis of Gregory P. Schoby find it satisfactory and recommend that it be accepted. iv Acknowledgements I would like to thank my major advisor, Dr. Ernest Keeley, whose advice, patience, and guidance were greatly appreciated, especially in the realm of statistical analysis. I would also like to thank the members of my committee, Dr. Ken Rodnick and Dr. Ken Bosworth. I would like to thank Scott Blum, Amy Jenkins, Sarra Moller, Steve and Meredith Seiler, and Chris Leesberg at the Fish Ecology Lab at Idaho State University for their support, both in the field and the lab. A special thanks is due to Tom Curet of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) for recognizing the need and importance of a project such as this. Also at IDFG, I would also like to Jeff Lutch, Paddy Murphy, Bob Esselman, Arnie Brimmer, Kim Andrews, Kevin Meyer, and Mark Hurley for their continued support, encouragement, and advice throughout the course of this project. I wish to thank Scott Feldhausen and Kate Forster of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Ted Koch, Deb Mignono, and Howard Burge of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Bruce Smith, Joe Vacirca, and Tom Montoya of the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), Steve Yundt with IDFG and the Idaho Governors Office of Species Conservation (OSC), and Richard Prange of Trout Unlimited (TU); all were instrumental in securing funding for such a large project and their efforts are greatly appreciated. I would also like to thank all of the landowners in the Upper Salmon River Basin that allowed access to their property. As far as the field work goes, I could not have completed such a large task without depending on some truly dedicated and wonderful people: Tom Coates, Matt Green, Elisabeth Major, and Ken John deserve the utmost recognition for the many long days spent in the field. I know at times it seemed v like looking for a needle in a haystack, but you all came through, all the time. Thanks for everything. I am deeply appreciative of the time I was able to spend with Tom and Sandi Coates. Tom, thanks for the many long hours spent afield, some sunburned, others in wind, snow, and hail storms. Thanks for sharing the secrets of a lifetime on the Salmon River with me. Sandi, you always knew we’d be back about an hour after dark, no matter the season. Thanks for all the hot meals and putting a roof over my head so many times. I would also like to thank Mark Morasch and Dr. Chris Peery at the University of Idaho for help with radio tracking and telemetry stations. I would like to thank everyone on the IDFG Sockeye crew for assistance with tracking in Redfish Lake. Also, to all the employees of the Salmon Region of IDFG, thanks for the time spent assisting with tagging and tracking. And finally, I would like to thank my parents, Margaret and Paul, and brother, Mike, for all of their support and encouragement. vi Table of Contents Acknowledgements............................................................................................................. v List of Figures..................................................................................................................viii List of Tables .................................................................................................................... xii List of Appendices ...........................................................................................................xiii Abstract............................................................................................................................ xiv Introduction......................................................................................................................... 1 Methods............................................................................................................................... 6 Study Area ...................................................................................................................... 6 Transmitter implantation................................................................................................. 8 Radio Tracking................................................................................................................ 9 Home Range Analysis................................................................................................... 10 Stomach Content Analysis............................................................................................ 11 Statistical Analyses ....................................................................................................... 12 Results............................................................................................................................... 13 Tagging ......................................................................................................................... 13 Tracking ........................................................................................................................ 15 Body Size and Home Range Analysis .......................................................................... 15 Monthly Movement Rates............................................................................................. 18 Stomach Content Analysis............................................................................................ 21 Discussion......................................................................................................................... 23 Literature Cited ................................................................................................................. 34 vii List of Figures Figure 1. The Upper Salmon River Basin, Idaho, USA, and its major watersheds. Towns are marked with stars. Locations of fixed telemetry sites are marked with black squares............................................................................................................................... 43 Figure 2. Capture and tagging location of bull trout in the Upper Salmon River Basin, ID. ..................................................................................................................................... 44 Figure 3. Capture and tagging location of westslope cutthroat trout in the Upper Salmon River Basin, ID. ................................................................................................................ 45 Figure 4. Length distribution of radio tagged bull trout (solid bars) and westslope cutthroat trout (open bars) in the Upper Salmon River Basin, ID. ................................... 46 Figure 5. The relationship between body length (mm) and home range size (km) of bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout (pooled data) in the Upper Salmon River Basin, Idaho; 2 log10 home range (km) = 0.86 log10 total length (mm) – 0.55, (r =0.026; n=78, P=0.16). ........................................................................................................................................... 47 Figure 6. The relationship between body mass (g) and home range size (km) of bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout (pooled data) in the Upper Salmon River Basin, Idaho; 2 log10 home range (km) = 0.31 log10 mass (g) + 0.82, (r =0.028; n=78, P=0.14). ............ 48 Figure 7. The relationships between body length (mm) and home range size (km) of bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout in the Upper Salmon River Basin, Idaho. The black circles and solid line represent bull trout: log10 home range (km) = 1.003 log10 total length (mm) – 0.95, (r2=0.036; n=44, P=0.21). The open squares and dashed line represent westslope cutthroat trout: log10 home range (km) = 2.06 log10 total length (mm) – 3.6, (r2=0.035; n=34, P=0.29)........................................................................................ 49 Figure 8. The relationships between body mass (g) and home range size (km) of bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout in the Upper Salmon River Basin, Idaho. The black circles and solid line represent bull trout: log10 home range (km) = 0.36 log10 mass (g) + 0.66, (r2=0.042; n=44, P=0.18). The open squares and dashed line represent westslope 2 cutthroat trout: log10 home range (km) = 0.50 log10 mass (g) + 0.34, (r =0.022; n=34, P=0.40). ............................................................................................................................ 50 Figure 9. Average home range size (± 1 SD) of radio tagged bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout in the Upper Salmon River Basin, ID. Solid bars represent raw home range measures, while open bars represent home