Is it hip? Identifying streams with high intrinsic potential to provide salmon and trout.

Abstract

Decisionmakers concerned with Pacific salmon and trout have, out of necessity, relied on limited, site-scale information when planning and evaluating efforts to protect or restore freshwater habitat. To help broaden the context of conservation approaches, scientists in the Coastal Landscape Analysis and Modeling Study (CLAMS) have developed tools that characterize the species-specific potential of streams to provide habitat for these wide-ranging fish.

The CLAMS scientists began by creating a computerized regional stream map that is consistent across all ownerships and stores important information about each stream. By using attributes of topography and flow, streams are ranked by their intrinsic potential to provide habitat for coho salmon and steelhead. Further analysis revealed that whereas high-quality steelhead streams are located primarily on public lands managed for forest uses, much of the best potential habitat for coho salmon is on private lands that are managed for a variety of uses, including agriculture and urban.

Results from this research are helping prioritize restoration efforts to those stream reaches with the highest potential to support salmon and trout. Simulations of anticipated development and forest cover over the next century are being analyzed in light of the high-potential habitat. In addition, the intrinsic potential of streams in combination with 19th-century cannery data is being used to estimate historical fish abundance.

Citation

Thompson, Jonathan. 2005. Is it hip? Identifying streams with high intrinsic potential to provide salmon and trout. Science Findings 72. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 5 p