Assessment of Trout Abundance and Distribution in the Waiparous Creek Drainage, Alberta, 2006
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Assessment of Trout Abundance and Distribution in the Waiparous Creek Drainage, Alberta, 2006 CONSERVATION REPORT SERIES The Alberta Conservation Association is a Delegated Administrative Organization under Alberta’s Wildlife Act. CCONSERVATIONONSERVATION RREPORTEPORT SSERIESERIES 25% Post Consumer Fibre When separated, both the binding and paper in this document are recyclable Assessment of Trout Abundance and Distribution in the Waiparous Creek Drainage, Alberta, 2006 Kevin Fitzsimmons Alberta Conservation Association P. O. Box 1420 Cochrane, Alberta, Canada T4C 1B4 Report Editors PETER AKU KELLEY KISSNER Alberta Conservation Association 50 Tuscany Meadows Cres NW #101, 9 Chippewa Rd Calgary, AB T3L 2T9 Sherwood Park, AB T8A 6J7 Conservation Report Series Type Data ISBN printed: 978‐7785‐7741‐6 ISBN online: 978‐7785‐7742‐3 Publication No.: T/204 Disclaimer: This document is an independent report prepared by the Alberta Conservation Association. The authors are solely responsible for the interpretations of data and statements made within this report. Reproduction and Availability: This report and its contents may be reproduced in whole, or in part, provided that this title page is included with such reproduction and/or appropriate acknowledgements are provided to the authors and sponsors of this project. Suggested Citation: Fitzsimmons, K. 2008. Assessment of trout abundance and distribution in the Waiparous Creek drainage, Alberta, 2006. Data Report, D‐2008‐011, produced by the Alberta Conservation Association, Cochrane, Alberta, Canada. 39 pp. + App. Cover photo credit: David Fairless Digital copies of conservation reports can be obtained from: Alberta Conservation Association #101, 9 Chippewa Rd Sherwood Park, AB T8A 6J7 Toll Free: 1‐877‐969‐9091 Tel: (780) 410‐1998 Fax: (780) 464‐0990 Email: info@ab‐conservation.com Website: www.ab‐conservation.com i EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The primary objective of this study was to provide estimates of abundance and distribution of bull trout, cutthroat trout, and brook trout in the Waiparous Creek drainage to assist with management of trout populations. In 2006, I backpack electrofished stream sites along Waiparous, Meadow, Johnson and Unnamed creeks to obtain monitoring data needed to estimate fish abundance, distribution and movement. I sampled 500‐m sites in two periods; early season (late spring to early summer; n = 59) and late season (early fall; n = 32). During the early season, I marked 53 bull trout and 133 cutthroat trout (all > 150 mm in fork length, FL). I used capture‐mark‐recapture population estimation methods at a subset of sites to estimate electrofishing capture efficiency. Maximum likelihood estimates of capture efficiency varied among creeks, but were typically higher for cutthroat trout (0.36 to 0.65), followed by bull trout (0.20 to 0.54), and then brook trout (0.38 to 0.46). Of the three study species, bull trout capture efficiencies exhibited the least precision. Next, I used a non‐parametric generalized additive model to estimate fish (> 70 mm FL) abundance in 500‐m intervals along study streams. Estimates were replicated 10,000 times to develop 95% confidence intervals around abundance projections. Based on capture‐mark‐recapture methods and non‐parametric modeling, brook trout was the most abundant of the three species along 40 km of Waiparous Creek. Waiparous Creek supported the most bull trout and cutthroat trout compared to tributaries of Waiparous Creek. Surveys were only conducted along Meadow Creek in the early sampling period on 13.5 km of stream. In this stream, I estimated relatively few bull trout or cutthroat trout, whereas I estimated brook trout to be 33 times more abundant than bull trout. In Johnson Creek, early sampling indicated that cutthroat trout was approximately 2.2 times more abundant than bull trout, and that brook trout was the most abundant species in this creek at 14 times more abundant than bull trout. Fall sampling did not occur along the full length of Johnson Creek. I failed to capture brook trout in Unnamed Creek (3.5 km). Bull trout abundance in Unnamed Creek was relatively low; however, the majority of fish could be considered juveniles. I captured few cutthroat trout in Unnamed Creek in either the early or late season. ii To identify fish movement patterns and life history strategies used by fish in the Waiparous Creek drainage, I marked 53 bull trout and 133 cutthroat trout. Of tagged fish, I recaptured five bull trout and 17 cutthroat trout at later dates. One bull trout moved a minimum of 23.3 km between captures, and all others were recaptured within 500 m of their initial capture location. Although there was an increase in bull trout abundance between early and late sampling periods, considerable variance exists around these estimates and no strong support for a fluvial or ad‐fluvial life history strategy was found. Further, the number of mature large bull trout in the drainage was relatively unchanged between sampling periods. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I thank Alberta Conservation Association (ACA) employees Marco Fontana, Chad Judd, Adrian Meinke, Mike Rodtka, Jay Wielickzo, and Thomas Winter, and Alberta Sustainable Resource Development (ASRD) staff Brian Lajeunesse and John Bilas for their assistance in data collection. I also thank Mike Blackburn (ASRD) and Mike Rodtka for their direction on project design, and Andrew Paul (ASRD) for his considerable help with the software programs R and MARK. Mike Rodtka and Cam Stevens provided helpful reviews on drafts of this document. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..........................................................................................................iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ...............................................................................................................v LIST OF FIGURES........................................................................................................................vi LIST OF TABLES....................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF APPENDICES ...............................................................................................................ix 1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................1 2.0 STUDY AREA...................................................................................................................2 3.0 MATERIALS AND METHODS .....................................................................................4 3.1 Study design.................................................................................................................4 3.2 Data collection..............................................................................................................6 3.3 Population modeling...................................................................................................7 4.0 RESULTS ...........................................................................................................................9 4.1 Capture efficiencies .....................................................................................................9 4.2 Waiparous Creek .......................................................................................................10 4.3 Meadow Creek ...........................................................................................................18 4.4 Johnson Creek ............................................................................................................21 4.5 Unnamed Creek .........................................................................................................28 4.6 Fish maturity and movement...................................................................................33 4.7 Summary.....................................................................................................................35 5.0 LITERATURE CITED ....................................................................................................37 6.0 APPENDICES.................................................................................................................40 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Location of the Waiparous Creek drainage, including Waiparous, Meadow, Johnson and Unnamed creeks, relative to the City of Calgary and other major streams..........................................................................................................3 Figure 2. Location of inventory and capture‐mark‐recapture sites in the Waiparous Creek drainage........................................................................................................5 Figure 3. Bull trout abundance estimates in Waiparous Creek......................................12 Figure 4. Cutthroat trout abundance estimates in Waiparous Creek............................13 Figure 5. Brook trout abundance estimates in Waiparous Creek ..................................14 Figure 6. Fork length frequency distribution of bull trout captured in Waiparous Creek in early and late sampling periods. ........................................................15 Figure 7. Fork length frequency distribution of cutthroat trout captured in Waiparous Creek in early and late sampling periods. ........................................................16 Figure 8. Fork length