PREFACE This Updated Special Edition Technical Report is a product of the project: Wildlife –Habitat Relationships in Oregon and Washington (Johnson and O’Neil 2001). The integration of the information on the ecology and management of species in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environs has been a focus of the project since its inception. For the first time, this Special Edition Technical Report synthesizes fundamental and crucial information linking salmon with wildlife species and the broader aquatic and terrestrial realms in which the co-exist. Readers will find this scientifically-robust report to greatly strengthen our collective understanding of the role that salmon play in the population so Pacific Northwest wildlife species, the ecology of freshwater ecosystems, and how management activities such as hatcheries and harvest can impact these aspects. We thank the authors who contributed important time and effort to the making of this report. Efforts on this Special Edition Technical Report have been supported by a large number of entities, including the 34 Project Partners and Contributing Sponsors of Wildlife –Habitat Relationships in Oregon and Wash- ington: Birds of Oregon Project; Birds of Washington Project; Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs; Donavin Leckenby; Environmental Protection Agency – Corvallis Lab.; Federal Highways Administration; Fish and Wildlife Information Exchange; National Fish and Wildlife Foundation; Northwest Power Planning Council; Oregon Cooperative Wildlife Resources Institute; Oregon/Washington Partners in Flight; Pacific States Marine Fish Commission; Quileute Indian Tribe; Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation; Society for Northwestern Vertebrate Biology; USDA Forest Service; USDI Bureau of Land Management;’ USDI Fish and Washington Community, Trade, and Economic Development’; Washington Department of Natural Resources; Washington Department of Transportation; Washington Forest Protection Associa- tion; Weyerhaeuser Company; Wildlife Management Institute. Contribution Sponsors are Paul F. And Teresa J. Roline; Oregon Chapter of The Wildlife Society; and the WA Chapter of the Wildlife Society. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Northwest Habitat Institute are the lead organizations on this project. In particular, we thank the Multi-Species Framework Project/Northwest Power Planning Council, Washing- ton Department of Natural Resources, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Northwest Habitat Institute for their important contributions to the development and printing of this Special Edition Technical Report. Additional copies of this report can be acquired from the web page: http://www.wa.gov/wdfw/hab/ salmonwild/, or contacting David H. Johnson, WDFW, Habitat Program, 600 Capitol Way N., Olympia, WA 98501-1091; email: [email protected] Special changes have been made to Table 8 to correct numerical errors in previous version. Cover photo: Glaucous-winged gull feeding on chum salmon carcass: Photo by C. Jeff Cederholm. Cover border: North- west Indian artwork by Bill Martin of the Makah Tribe, Neah Bay, Washington. Cover layout and design: Charley Barrett of the Northwest Habitat Institute, Corvallis, Oregon. i PACIFIC SALMON AND WILDLIFE - ECOLOGICAL CONTEXTS, RELATIONSHIPS, AND IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGEMENT C. Jeff Cederholm, Washington Department of Natural Resources, Olympia, WA. 1 David H. Johnson, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Olympia, WA. Robert E. Bilby, National Marine Fisheries Service, Seattle, WA. Lawrence G. Dominguez, Washington Department of Natural Resources, Olympia, WA. Ann M. Garrett, Private Consultant, Kirkland, WA. William H. Graeber, Washington Department of Natural Resources, Olympia, WA. Eva L. Greda, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Olympia, WA. Matt D. Kunze, Private Consultant, Spokane, WA. Bruce G. Marcot, United States Forest Service, PNW Lab, Portland, OR. John F. Palmisano, Private Consultant, Portland, OR. Rob W. Plotnikoff, Washington Department of Ecology, Olympia, WA. William G. Pearcy, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR. Charles A. Simenstad, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Patrick C. Trotter, Private Consultant, Seattle, WA. Recommended Citation: Cederholm, C. J., D. H. Johnson, R. E. Bilby, L.G. Dominguez, A. M. Garrett, W. H. Graeber, E. L. Greda, M. D. Kunze, B.G. Marcot, J. F. Palmisano, R. W. Plotnikoff, W. G. Pearcy, C. A. Simenstad, and P. C. Trotter. 2000. Pacific Salmon and Wildlife - Ecological Contexts, Relationships, and Implications for Management. Special Edition Technical Report, Prepared for D. H. Johnson and T. A. O’Neil (Managing directors), Wildlife-Habitat Relationships in Oregon and Wash- ington. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Olympia, Washington. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank the Washington Departments of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and Natural Resources (WDNR) for supporting this project. We appreciate greatly the thoughtful review given by Peter Bisson of the United States Forest Service; Jim Lichatowich, Private Consultant; Hal Michael, Jr., of the WDFW; Tom Mumford of WDNR; Pat Slaney of the British Columbia Watershed Restoration Program; and Mary F. Willson, of the Great Lakes Program of The Nature Conservancy. We also thank Luis Prado of WDNR and Darrell Pruett of the WDFW for graphic artwork on some of the figures in this report and Billie Lynn Wyckoff for help and considerable patience sith putting this publication together. 1C. Jeff Cederholm. Washington Department of Natural Resources, Business Systems Support Division. 1111 Washing- ton St. SE. PO Box 47014, Olympia, WA 98504-7014. Phone: (360) 902-1609, FAX: (360) 902-1789, E-mail: [email protected]. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS – i TABLE OF CONTENTS – ii ABSTRACT - iii INTRODUCTION - 1 GENERAL SALMON LIFE HISTORY - 7 FRESH WATER AND TERRESTRIAL HABITAT RELATIONSHIPS OF SALMON 1 - 18 Freshwater Habitat - 18 Riparian Habitat - 20 Habitat Forming Processes - 23 Beaver - 24 ESTUARY HABITAT - 26 OCEAN HABITAT - 29 ECOLOGICAL RELATIONSHIPS OF SALMON - 30 Macroinvertebrates - 30 Freshwater Macroinvertebrates And Salmon – 30 Structure And Function In Macroinvertebrate Communitie - 30 Physical and Chemical Influences On Macroinvertebrate Distribution - 30 Significance Of Macroinvertebrate Life Cycles - 31 Aquatic Macroinvertebrates As A Food Source for Salmon - 31 Salmon as a Food Source For Aquatic Macroinvertebrates - 32 Vertebrate Wildlife - 34 Vertebrate Wildlife And Salmon - 34 Wildlife Species With A Relationship To Salmon - 35 Wildlife Response To Salmon Congregations - 37 Review Of Wildlife Relationships By Salmon Life Stages - 39 Key Ecological Functions (KEFs) Provided To The Ecosystems Through Salmon-Wildlife Interactions - 43 SALMON FISHERIES - 49 Spawning Escapement Goals - 56 UNDERSTANDING SALMON RELATIONSHIPS - 59 Salmon As A Key Linkage In Biodiversity And Productivity - 59 Biomass of Salmon Runs As An Energy Source - 60 Pacific Salmon Provide Key Ecological Functions - 65 Salmon As Vectors In Broader Nutrient Cycling - 66 Maintaining the Salmon Link in Nutrient Cycling - 68 WITH AN ECOSYSTEM PERSPECTIVE IN MIND - WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? - 72 Desired Future Condition - 74 IMPLICATIONS FOR FISHERIES MANAGEMENT - 75 LITERATURE CITED - 80 APPENDIX TABLES I-VII - 115 iii ABSTRACT There are seven indigenous salmon and trout of the genus Oncorhynchus in Washington and Oregon (chinook, coho, chum, sockeye, and pink salmon, and steelhead and cutthroat trout), for this paper we will collectively call them salmon. Their habitat extends from the smallest inland streams to the vast North Pacific Ocean, an area of freshwater, estuarine, and ocean habitats in excess of 4 million km2. Due to past commercial fisheries, habitat loss, hatchery problems, and more recently a changing ocean environment, salmon populations have shown substantial decline over the past several decades. Many salmon stocks in Washington and Oregon are now listed as either threatened or endangered, under the Federal Endangered Species Act. Early in the 1900’s and up until relatively recently, commercial fishing permanently diverted massive quanti- ties of nutrients away from Washington and Oregon rivers, and their respective fish and wildlife inhabitants. Recent calculations by Gresh et al. 174a indicate that only 3 percent of the marine-derived biomass once delivered by anadromous salmon to the rivers of Puget Sound, the Washington Coast, Columbia River, and the Oregon Coast is currently reaching those streams. There have also been many other losses of salmon habitat during this period caused by: river channel clearing and channelization, log driving and splash dam- ming, extensive land clearing, major water diversions, livestock grazing, mining runoff pollution, logging road associated erosion and removal of the old growth forest, filling and diking of wetlands and estuaries, hydro- electric dam development, urban runoff, water and sediment contamination with toxicant, and recently recognized human induced oligotrophication of waterways. Over fishing and habitat degradation, together with a background of a changing ocean environment, have cumulatively reduced stock resilience. A century of hatchery programs have failed to rebuild the wild runs, and in many cases, likely contributed to their further declines. Modern salmon management techniques have become highly sophisticated, however, they have not been able to keep pace with the salmon population declines. The life history of anadromous salmon covers time