| Report Documents
|
|
|
| |
| Map Plotfiles
|
-
No files of this type available
|
| |
| Data Files
|
-
No files of this type available
|
| |
| Digital Map Files
|
-
No files of this type available
|
| |
| Image Document
|
-
No files of this type available
|
| |
| Video Files
|
-
No files of this type available
|
| |
|
All Documents
|
|
|
| Contact
|
|
-
If you have any questions on the information presented, or require additional report data or attachments, please contact the Report Contact
|
|
|
The construction of the 183-m high W.A.C. Bennett Dam in 1967, forming the Williston Reservoir flooded roughly 350 km of the Peace, Finlay, and Parsnip River valleys (Hagen and Stamford 2017). Arctic Grayling (Thymallus arcticus) in the Upper Peace watershed show a fluvial life history form (Clarke et al. 2007).
|
Author: Eduardo Martins, Bryce O Connor, Joseph Bottoms, Ian Clevenger, Devon Smith, Marie Auger-Methe, Michael Power, David Patterson, Mark Shrimpton and Steven Cooke
|
Old Reference Number: PEA-F22-F-3388
|
Old Reference System: FWCP - Fish Wildlife Compensation Program Peace
|
Date Published: Jul 2022
|
Report ID: 59889
|
Audience: Government and Public
|
Therefore, flooding of the Upper Peace resulted in a
considerable loss of riverine habitat. Prior to impoundment, Arctic Grayling were widespread and abundant in tributary streams of the Upper Peace (Pearce and Abadzadesahraei 2019). However, presently Arctic Grayling are restricted to just eight of the larger watersheds in the Williston Reservoir watershed (Hagen and Stamford 2017). The decrease in available habitat, alteration of natural hydrology (change from large flowing rivers to reservoir) and evidence of drastic reductions in population size cause great uncertainty about the sustainability of Arctic Grayling
populations in the Williston Reservoir Watershed (Stamford and Taylor 2005). The recent review by Stamford et al. (2017) and monitoring framework by Hagen and Stamford (2017) highlighted a number of critical information gaps related to the spatial ecology the causes and consequences of a species distribution over time and space (Hastings et al. 2011) of Arctic Grayling. For
example, two important spatial ecology data gaps identified in the review are: (1) the unknown distribution of Arctic Grayling within the streams of the different core areas (sensu Stamford et al. 2017); and (2) the lack of understanding of Arctic Grayling migrations. Knowledge of a species spatial ecology is fundamental to the effective development and implementation of enhancement and conservation programs (Allen and Singh 2016, Ogburn et al. 2017). To identify critical habitats and potential limiting factors (e.g. habitat conditions, human impacts, interspecific interactions), these programs often require detailed information derived from spatial ecology studies describing where, when and why individuals move and are distributed in space (Cooke et al. 2016). Although the description of distribution and migrations is a necessary
step in understanding the spatial ecology of Arctic Grayling, it is not sufficient to determine its drivers. Both abiotic and biotic factors play an important role in influencing the spatial ecology of species (Royle et al. 2017). Among abiotic factors, the spatio-temporal availability of thermal
habitats is one of the most important drivers of fish distribution and migrations in freshwater environments (Lucas and Baras 2001, Isaak et al. 2010). Despite the general perception that the thermal environment in running freshwater is homogeneous, streams exhibit substantial thermal variability at small (10 to 100 m) and large (> 1,000 m) spatial scales due, for example, to the variability in elevation, riparian vegetation shade and groundwater input along their extension (Kurylyk et al. 2015). Temperature has a strong potential to limit growth and distribution of Arctic Grayling populations, as highlighted by Stamford et al. (2017), and it is known that the occurrence of Arctic Grayling and Bull Trout (Salvelinus confluentus) is negatively related to water temperature (Hawkshaw et al. 2014, Isaak et al. 2010). Therefore, a full description of the
distribution and migrations of Arctic Grayling in the Williston Reservoir Watershed requires a detailed characterization of the distribution of thermal habitats. Spatial stream network modeling (SSNM) provides high resolution predictions of temperature patterns over large spatial extents and their application to animal occurrence data has become more widespread (Isaak et al. 2014). A novel combination of telemetry detection data and spatial modeling will provide a detailed characterization of Arctic Grayling thermal ecology and available thermal habitat as well as interactions with Bull Trout (see below).
|
Report Type
| |
Fish and Aquatic Habitat Information |
| |
Subject
| |
Fish Species - Arctic Grayling - Thymallus arcticus |
| |
Region - Peace |
| |
Fish and Fish Habitat - Habitat and Stream Assessment |
| |
Watershed Groups - 236 - Parsnip River |
| |
|
|
