Vampires in the Basement: Lessons about species-at-risk, exotic invasions, and ecological restoration from the wise fishes of Jasper and Willmore

Transcription

1 Vampires in the Basement: Lessons about species-at-risk, exotic invasions, and ecological restoration from the wise fishes of Jasper and Willmore Dr. Michael Sullivan, Alberta Cooperative Conservation Research Unit

2 What have our travels in the mountains taught us? 1) Ecosystems are complex 2) Species-at-Risk usually mean Systems-at-Risk 3) Ecosystem changes may be irreversible Learn to appreciate change Chaba River area, JNP March 2007

3 Vampires in the Basement Creatures that are around, but quite rare until some evil thing occurs upstairs, and the vampires come out of the basement, and life as we know it is changed forever Hardscrabble Creek Azure Lake Whitetail deer Vampires and Invasives becoming important in our understanding of Nature

4 Whitetails are the Vampires in the Basement for JNP and Willmore caribou Tonquin Valley area, Summer 2007 Mark Bradley photo

5 Queen Elizabeth Range, JNP Feb 2009

6 Rock Lake area (Hinton) Nov 2008

7 Starlight Range, JNP July 2008 Clearcuts (or burns) alter habitat (old-growth becomes young) Young forest = increased invasive deer, that increase wolves Wolves enjoy deer, but love caribou Caribou decline

8 Clearcuts (1000 s of em) Grande Cache Clearcuts (1000 s of em) Caribou range (A La Peche Herd) Hinton 50 km (30 miles) JNP (1/2 day wolf travel) Jasper

9 Heraclitus (575 BC): You cannot step in the same river twice If the ecosystem has changed, can we restore a single species? Mowitch Creek, JNP July 2008

10 The decline of a charismatic species is usually (always?) symptomatic of a complex ecosystem shift, often invisible, often irreversible Starlight Range, JNP July 2008

11 4 3.5 Human population of the Canadian prairie provinces Oil boom attracted people Alberta Saskatchewan Millions of people Manitoba Year

12 Oil boom attracts people

13 Oil boom attracts people

14 Wolf Lake 2008 Alberta walleye are old really old 50 cm walleye 1060 g = slow growth = low productivity = easily overharvested 29 year-old (born in 1978)

15 Low Productivity meets Heavy Fishing Pressure 80 Success rate of anglers % Success (walleye kept) Restricted access Open access Edmonton Primrose Lake Air Weapons Range Calgary 0 SPENCER PRIMROSE KEHEWIN TOUCHWOOD 84 NORTH BUCK GREGOIRE BAPTISTE FLOATINGSTONE PINEHURST FRENCHMAN IRONWOOD AMISK SKELETON MURIEL GARNER MOOSE MOORE HILDA ETHEL COLD TOUCHWOOD 89 WOLF STE. ANNE Road-accessible Alberta lakes collapsed by 1990s

16 Why not just stock more fish? Walleye stocked in Alberta for > 80 years 116 lakes stocked on 364 different occasions Stocking successful (self-sustaining) at 5 lakes 1 of these 5 was restoration

17 Stocking walleye mostly unsuccessful in Alberta Why? Abundant small fishes at collapsed walleye lakes Few Walleye abundance (CUE) Many

18 Loss of Cultivation Effects: Walleye and Shiners Complex predator-prey interaction Depensatory loss of cultivation effect Walleye adults eat minnows Minnow adults eat walleye fry Overfishing alters interaction New ecosystem unsuitable for stocking

19 Ecosystem changes: replacement of apex predators large commercial fisheries 800 Commercial harvest of walleye (kg/ha) Walleye 4 major breeding colonies Cormorants (x 10) White Pelicans Birds on breeding colonies Year 0

20 Quote of the Decade One of the biggest mistakes in the development of fisheries science has been the broad assumption that this science is about fish. Walters and Martell (2004)

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23 Replacement of apex predators, caused by Vampires 1.6 Walleye 800 Commercial harvest of walleye (kg/ha) Few walleye Many perch (=irruptive species) Few grazing plankton 4 major breeding colonies Cormorants (x 10) White Pelicans large Alberta commercial fisheries Green water 1990 Year Birds on breeding colonies

24 Vampires in the Basement Talbot Lake, JNP New Bird Community Loons unusually abundant 8 breeding pairs, 8 chicks fledged in ha lake Original Fish Community Big Pike, lake whitefish, & spottail shiners (rare) New Fish Community Heavy fishing pressure (1960s 1990s) Whitefish very rare, large (>80cm) pike rare Spottails now very abundant

25 Ecosystem changes: replacement of apex predators Talbot Lake, JNP Loons = Popular tourist attraction Vergas, Minnesota 2008 Loon Queen and Loon Princess 2008 Loon Princess and her posse

26 Ecosystem changes: replacement of apex predators Peyto Viewpoint Talbot Lake, JNP Talbot Lake is now notable destination for wildlife tours More loons = more tours = $ and appreciation for nature Restored lake = more big pike = fewer loons Will society benefit more from loons or pike?

27 Vampires in the JNP Backcountry? Across all Canadian National Parks, the most fishing licences were consistently issued in Jasper Legacy of being the fishing national park has left very loud echos Unnamed lake (with bull trout!) Upper Miette drainage August 2006

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29 Fish Story from the Smoky River Drainage Upper Smoky system originally fishless Headwater lake (Adolphus Lake) Stocked in 1963, Brook trout (native to east coast, Appalachia) August 2007 No fish in Adolphus No adult brookies for 40 km below Adolphus

30 Chown Creek area, North Boundary Trail country

31 Brookies trickle down from Upper Smoky to native Alberta bull trout water Brook trout outcompete and hybridize with native bull trout Hybrid fishes less adapted to natural environment = loss of bull trout Brook Trout Alberta s Official Provincial Fish Bull Trout Approx. 700 adult brook trout

32 More than a few new fishes

33 More than a few exotic fishes Ecosystem shift

34 Tough questions Should we restore Jasper s fishless ecosystems? Can we restore Jasper s fishless ecosystems?

35 Should we restore JNP s fishless ecosystem? Does society want to eliminate fish-dependant birds, mammals? Triage: $$ not infinite; is this the best way to spend it? Pro: brookie removal protects bull trout in Willmore (downstream) Con: without brookie removal, we ll recommend no fishing for bull trout in Willmore No fishing = infringement of treaty rights Aseniwuche Winewak (Rocky Mtn. Cree)

36 Can we restore JNP s fishless ecosystem? Some wise folks say, No We might (and should!) restore lakes, maybe streams, but not ecosystems Never underestimate our ability to overfish

37 We re the folks who fished out the North Atlantic overfishing damage extends far beyond cod

38 Can we restore Jasper s fishless ecosystems? Industrial-strength ecosystem disturbance (repeatedly, for years) Massive poisoning & netting of lakes and streams - chemical side-effects, friendly fire People living and working in area for years - caribou, grizzlies disturbed - no longer a wilderness $$$ and effort that could go elsewhere

39 Should we accept the (probably) inevitable changes of ecosystem shifts? Should we learn to appreciate brookies and loons and wolves?

40 Edward Abbey The Journey Home: Some Words in Defense of the American West One final paragraph of advice: Do not burn yourselves out. Be like I am a reluctant enthusiast, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. Thank you It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, explore the forests, encounter the grizz, climb the mountains, run the rivers. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much: I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound people with their hearts in a safe deposit box and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this: you will outlive the bastards. Ed Abbey