seminar5

The session goals are to 1) identify spatial and temporal scales of biological significance for salmon population and habitat dynamics, across freshwater and estuarine/marine environments, and 2) consider how to include this information in scenarios.

Peter Bisson (USFS)
Research Fish Biologist, UDSA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station
Olympia, Washington

Pete Bisson (bissonp@olywa.net) received a B.A. in environmental biology from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1967, and M.S. and Ph.D. in fisheries from Oregon State University in 1969 and 1975, respectively. From 1974 to 1995 he worked as an aquatic biologist for the Weyerhaeuser Company in Tacoma, Washington. In 1995 he joined the Forest Service as a research fish biologist and team leader at the Pacific Northwest Research Station in Olympia, Washington. Bisson’s studies have included fish populations in Pacific Northwest streams, stream habitats and food webs, riparian zones, and a variety of management issues related to aquatic ecosystems. He holds affiliate faculty appointments at the University of Washington, Oregon State University, and the University of Idaho, and has served on two National Research Council committees: one on Pacific salmon and the other on watershed management. From 1997 to 1998 he was president of the Western Division of the American Fisheries Society. Pete is currently vice-chair of the Independent Scientific Advisory Board for the Columbia River Basin.

Robert E. Bilby (bob.bilby@weyerhaeuser.com) has conducted research on stream ecosystems, salmon and the effects of human actions of both since 1975. He received a B.S. in zoology from the University of Rhode Island and a Ph.D. in aquatic ecology from Cornell University. He currently is a senior science advisor for Weyerhaeuser Company and manages the environmental forestry research program. From 1998 through 2000 Bilby managed the watershed research program at the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle. He is an affiliate faculty member at the University of Washington’s School of Aquatic and Fisheries Science and College of Forest Resources. Bilby’s research has included investigation of the role of large wood in streams and the impact of forestry on this material, response of stream trophic systems to disturbances, relationships between habitat characteristics and salmon productivity and the contribution that spawning salmon make to the nutrient capital and productivity of streams.

Bisson:

What are the two or three main missing pieces of data that if obtained, would more easily facilitate the modeling of juveniles in the freshwater environment?

How is the info (spatial and temporal data) used to enhance salmon spawning habitat? What other agencies or groups does USFW work with to accomplish these goals (collecting and enhance habitats)? What is USFW jurisdiction over salmon streams (ie. What are they responsible for)?

Do you see the biologically significant spatial and temporal scales having future impacts in salmonid management or regulations (such as, in the time scales used for monitoring, or determining success)?

Bilby:

In what type of spatial scale does LWD (presence or absence) seem most significant to salmonids (or make the most impact)?

Which environment would be the most important to salmonid habitat protection - the freshwater, estuarine or marine and why?

Positive habitat changes allow for higher recruitment and greater influx of the marine derived nutrient component over time. If stream productivity is tied to fry survival, at what point can we expect that nutrients are no longer a limiting factor considering fry output? And along the same lines, how effectively can the role of spawning salmon and marine derived nutrients be incorporated into a habitat model?