Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-2002

Keywords

Fertilization, Marine-derived nutrients, Nutrient cycling, Oncho­ rynchus spp., Pacific Decadal Oscillation, PDO, Picea glauca, Picea sitchensis, Sitka spruce, White spruce

Abstract

Decision-makers concerned with salmon or their stream habitats are faced with many persistent, difficult questions including: how large and variable were these populations before European settlement? Here, we examine the feasibility of reconstructing salmon abundance using links between marine nutrients carried upstream by Pacific salmon ( Oncorhynchus spp.) and growth of dominant riparian trees in two Alaskan systems. We employ standard dendrochronology methods and regression models to quantify relationships between annual tree-ring growth, salmon escapement, and the climate pattern that affects oceanic production of Northeast Pacific salmon stocks, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). We find that known, annual salmon escapement is significantly related to tree-ring growth at two sites in the Pacific coastal rainforest (PCRF) (r2 = 0.23, P < 0.05 at each site), but not at two sites in the boreal forest. We then use relationships established at PCRF sites to reconstruct preliminary salmon spawning abundances to 1820 A.D. The PDO was not correlated with local 19-yr salmon escapement records and could not be used in re­constructions. Reconstructions compare favorably to southeastern Alaska fisheries catch data from 1924 to 1994 (Pearson correlation = 0.301 [P = 0.02] and 0.401 [P < 0.01]). This study demonstrates the promise and utility of dendrochronology for reconstructing salmon returns to streams.

Publication Title

Ecology

Volume

83

Issue

11

First Page

2971

Last Page

2977

Required Publisher's Statement

Copyright by the Ecological Society of America

Reconstructing Salmon Abundance in Rivers: An Initial Dendrochronological Evaluation Author(s): Deanne C. Drake, Robert J. Naiman and James M. HelfieldSource: Ecology, Vol. 83, No. 11 (Nov., 2002), pp. 2971-2977

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3071832 .

Subjects - Topical (LCSH)

Pacific salmon--Life cycles--Ecology--Alaska; Dendrochronology--Alaska; Pacific salmon--Habitat--Conservation--Alaska; Riparian restoration--Alaska; Riparian forests--Nitrogen content--Alaska; Fish populations--Alaska

Geographic Coverage

Alaska

Genre/Form

articles

Type

Text

Language

English

Format

application/pdf

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