Pat DeHaan and Brice Adams US Fish and Wildlife Service Abernathy Fish Technology Center Longview, WA Sam Brenkman and Pat Crain National Park Service Olympic National Park Port Angeles, WA
One of the few areas in the US bull trout have access to the marine environment Resident, fluvial, adfluvial, and anadromous life history types present Marine environment important for migration and feeding Bull trout sympatric with Dolly Varden Photo Credits: Sam Brenkman
NPS
From Brenkmanet al. 2007. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 136:1-11
Elwha Dam 1913 (RM 4.9) Lower Elwha Middle Elwha Upper Elwha Glines Canyon Dam -1927 (RM 13.4) Headwaters From Brenkmanet al. 2008 NW Sci 82:91-106
The Elwha River Ecosystem and Fisheries Restoration Act (1992) mandates restoration of the Elwha ecosystem Decision made to remove the two Elwha dams Dam removal began in 2011 Largest dam removal project in the US to date Reconnection to upstream habitat for 8 anadromous salmonid species Estimated 18.6 million m 3 of sediment will be released downstream Restoration plan for native fish species Natural recolonization for bull trout
Bull trout found in four distinct areas within the Elwha River (headwaters, upper, middle, lower) Primarily adfluvial fish present Suspected anadromous fish observed below Elwha Dam Do Elwha River bull trout still migrate to marine environment? Are bull trout in the different sections of the Elwha River genetically distinct? Photo Credits: Sam Brenkman
RPM 2.a. Determine the origin of bull trout utilizing the lower Elwha River through a genetic analysis (microsatellite DNA) of these fish, e.g. from the tribal test fishery, tribal hatchery, and state rearing channel. RPM 2.b. Determine by genetic analysis if bull trout from the Lower Elwha River are distinct from the Upper Elwha River or Lower Dungeness River/Gray Wolf subpopulations. RPM 2.c. Determine the genetic signature of the Lower Dungeness River/Gray Wolf River subpopulation.
Determine the level of genetic variation among Olympic Peninsula bull trout populations Are bull trout in the Elwha and Dungeness Rivers genetically distinct? Determine the origin of bull trout collected in the lower Elwha and Dungeness rivers Determine the level of genetic variation among bull trout separated by the Elwha River dams
Adult and juvenile bull trout collected from 6 Olympic Peninsula tributaries Hoh, SF Hoh, Kalaloch, Elwha, Dungeness, NF Skokomish Elwha and NF Skokomish fish collected above dams All individuals genotyped at 16 microsatellite loci Individuals grouped according to tributary of origin for statistical analysis
Adult and sub-adult bull trout collected from the 4 sections of the Elwha River Genetic assignment tests for fish collected in the lower Elwha and Dungeness Rivers Fish grouped according to sampling location for statistical analysis (headwaters, upper, middle, lower) Analysis of population structure Preliminary analysis with FCA and STRUCTURE Estimates of F ST among sampling locations Contingency tests of allele frequency heterogeneity
Elwha NF Skokomish Hoh, SF Hoh, Kalaloch Dungeness Overall F ST was 0.241 (0.167-0.262 95% C.I. )
NPS n= 21 n= 18 All lower Elwha fish assigned to Elwha with probability of 1.0 All lower Dungeness fish assigned to Dungeness with probability of 1.0 Downstream migration still occurs in Elwha Possibility for anadromy exists
1 0.5 0-1.5-1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 Lower Middle Upper Headwaters -0.5-1 -1.5
K=2 K=3 K=4 K=5 K=6
Headwaters Lower Middle Upper Headwaters --- <0.001* <0.001* <0.001* Lower 0.072* --- 0.345 0.599 Middle 0.088* 0.004 --- 0.027 Upper 0.072* 0.004 0.007 --- * Denotes significant difference (α = 0.05)
99 bull trout radio tagged in 3 sections of Elwha ~25% were entrained Majority were through Glines Canyon Dam No fish ascended the canyons Photo Credits: Sam Brenkman
Northwest Science 85:463-475
Potential for anadromy exists within the Elwha River Genetically distinct bull trout population in the Elwha headwaters No difference among lower, middle, and upper Elwha Fish Multiple sources for recolonization following dam removal Dam removal complete in 2013/2014 On-going monitoring during recolonization
NPS B.P.T. J. Dunham
Sol DucRiver one of three Olympic Peninsula watersheds with native Dolly Varden Found above Sol Duc Falls J. Dunham Brook trout stocked into headwater lakes from late 1930s to early 1970s Have now colonized downstream habitat W.T.A. NPS
Development of new DNA markers to differentiate among Salvelinus sp. and ID hybrids SNP Sequence White spotted char TTACATCACTATTT All other Salvelinus TTACATAACTATTT Bull, Brook, Dolly Varden, Arctic char, Lake trout Bull, Dolly Varden, Arctic char, Lake trout, Whitespotted char Hybrid White-spotted char Brook trout
Brook trout Brook trout Dolly Varden Dolly Varden
One Dolly Varden collected in 1997 had both Dolly Varden and brook trout alleles Local biologists report seeing Dolly Vardenwith strange vermiculations in the Sol Duc River Dolly Varden x brook trout hybrids? J. Dunham ScCS 2011
Plans to collect char in the Sol DucRiver upstream of the falls and from headwater lakes No specific species targeted Photos of all char collected Genetic sampling for species ID Sampling begins tomorrow at ScCS 2012! Results at ScCS2013? Salvelinus fontinalma?
Funding provided by Olympic National Park and USFWS Genetic samples collected by biologists and technicians from Olympic National Park, USFWS, USFS, WDFW, Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, and USGS University of WA assisted with SNP marker development Matt Diggs and Jennifer Von Bargenprovided laboratory assistance The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service