15. Atlas, WI; Ban, NC; Moore, JW; Tuohy, AM; Greening, S; Reid, AJ; Morven, N; White, E; Housty, WG; Housty, JA; Service, CN; Greba, L; Harrison, S; Sharpe, C; Butts, KIR; Shepert, WM; Sweeney-Bergen, E; Macintyre, D; Sloat, MR; Connors, K. (2021) Indigenous Systems of Management for Culturally and Ecologically Resilient Pacific Salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) Fisheries.Bioscience 71: 186-204 Indigenous Systems of Management for Culturally and Ecologically Resilient Pacific Salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) Fisheries
traditional knowledge; salmon; sustainable fisheries; mixed-stock fisheries; Indigenous governance
Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) are at the center of social-ecological systems that have supported Indigenous peoples around the North Pacific Rim since time immemorial. Through generations of interdependence with salmon, Indigenous Peoples developed sophisticated systems of management involving cultural and spiritual beliefs, and stewardship practices. Colonization radically altered these social-ecological systems, disrupting Indigenous management, consolidating authority within colonial governments, and moving most harvest into mixed-stock fisheries. We review Indigenous management of salmon, including selective fishing technologies, harvest practices, and governance grounded in multigenerational place-based knowledge. These systems and practices showcase pathways for sustained productivity and resilience in contemporary salmon fisheries. Contrasting Indigenous systems with contemporary management, we document vulnerabilities of colonial governance and harvest management that have contributed to declining salmon fisheries in many locations. We suggest that revitalizing traditional systems of salmon management can improve prospects for sustainable fisheries and healthy fishing communities and identify opportunities for their resurgence. DOI PubMed
14.Moore, JW; Connors, BM; Hodgson, EE. (2021) Conservation risks and portfolio effects in mixed-stock fisheries.Fish. Fish. 22: 1024-1040 Conservation risks and portfolio effects in mixed-stock fisheries
diversity‐ stability; ecological portfolio effects; mixed‐ stock fishery; Pacific salmon; resilience; sustainable fisheries
Fish biodiversity sustains the resilience and productivity of fisheries, yet this biodiversity can be threatened by overharvest and depletion in mixed-stock fisheries. Thus, the biodiversity that provides benefits may also make sustainable resource extraction more difficult, a key challenge in fisheries management. We simulated a mixed-stock fishery to explore relationships between different dimensions of biodiversity and fishery performance relative to conservation and fishery objectives. Different dimensions of biodiversity (number of stocks, evenness, asynchrony among stocks, heterogeneity in stock productivity) exacerbated trade-offs between fishery and conservation objectives. For example, fisheries targeting stock-complexes with greater asynchrony, and to a lesser extent richness, had greater stability in harvest through time but also greater risks of overfishing weak stocks and reduced yield compared to less biodiverse stock-complexes. These trade-offs were ameliorated by increasing management control-the capacity of fishery managers to harvest specific stocks. To explore these trade-offs in real-world fisheries, we contrasted the fishing and population status of individual stocks within three major mixed-stock sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka, Salmonidae) fisheries-Bristol Bay, Fraser River, and Skeena River. In general, the fisheries with lower management control had individual stocks that were more often being over- or under-fished, compared with those with higher management control, though variation among regions in biodiversity, scale of management, and magnitude of habitat alteration likely also contribute to these relationships. Collectively, our findings emphasize that there is a need to extract less or regulate better in order to conserve and benefit from biodiversity in fisheries and other natural resource management systems. DOI
13. Price, MHH; Moore, JW; Connors, BM; Wilson, KL; Reynolds, JD. (2021) Portfolio simplification arising from a century of change in salmon population diversity and artificial production.J. Appl. Ecol. 58: 1477-1486 Portfolio simplification arising from a century of change in salmon population diversity and artificial production
artificial production; biodiversity loss; conservation genetics; fisheries; historical ecology; population diversity; portfolio effects; salmon abundance
Population and life-history diversity can buffer species from environmental variability and contribute to long-term stability through differing responses to varying conditions akin to the stabilizing effect of asset diversity on financial portfolios. While it is well known that many salmon populations have declined in abundance over the last century, we understand less about how different dimensions of diversity may have shifted. Specifically, how has diminished wild abundance and increased artificial production (i.e. enhancement) changed portfolios of salmon populations, and how might such change influence fisheries and ecosystems? We apply modern genetic tools to century-old sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka scales from Canada's Skeena River watershed to (a) reconstruct historical abundance and age-trait data for 1913-1947 to compare with recent information, (b) quantify changes in population and life-history diversity and the role of enhancement in population dynamics, and (c) quantify the risk to fisheries and local ecosystems resulting from observed changes in diversity and enhancement. The total number of wild sockeye returning to the Skeena River during the modern era is 69% lower than during the historical era; all wild populations have declined, several by more than 90%. However, enhancement of a single population has offset declines in wild populations such that aggregate abundances now are similar to historical levels. Population diversity has declined by 70%, and life-history diversity has shifted: populations are migrating from freshwater at an earlier age, and spending more time in the ocean. There also has been a contraction in abundance throughout the watershed, which likely has decreased the spatial extent of salmon provisions to Indigenous fisheries and local ecosystems. Despite the erosion of portfolio strength that this salmon complex hosted a century ago, total returns now are no more variable than they were historically perhaps in part due to the stabilizing effect of artificial production. Policy implications. Our study provides a rare example of the extent of erosion of within-species biodiversity over the last century of human influence. Rebuilding a diversity of abundant wild populations-that is, maintaining functioning portfolios-may help ensure that watershed complexes like the Skeena are robust to global change. DOI
12. Wilson, KL; Bailey, CJ; Davies, TD; Moore, JW. (2021) Marine and freshwater regime changes impact a community of migratory Pacific salmonids in decline.Glob. Change Biol.Marine and freshwater regime changes impact a community of migratory Pacific salmonids in decline
Bayesian; ecosystem change; fisheries; population dynamics; salmon; time-series; watersheds
Marine and freshwater ecosystems are increasingly at risk of large and cascading changes from multiple human activities (termed "regime shifts"), which can impact population productivity, resilience, and ecosystem structure. Pacific salmon exhibit persistent and large fluctuations in their population dynamics driven by combinations of intrinsic (e.g., density dependence) and extrinsic factors (e.g., ecosystem changes, species interactions). In recent years, many Pacific salmon have declined due to regime shifts but clear understanding of the processes driving these changes remains elusive. Here, we unpacked the role of density dependence, ecosystem trends, and stochasticity on productivity regimes for a community of five anadromous Pacific salmonids (Steelhead, Coho Salmon, Pink Salmon, Dolly Varden, and Coastal Cutthroat Trout) across a rich 40-year time-series. We used a Bayesian multivariate state-space model to examine whether productivity shifts had similarly occurred across the community and explored marine or freshwater changes associated with those shifts. Overall, we identified three productivity regimes: an early regime (1976-1990), a compensatory regime (1991-2009), and a declining regime (since 2010) where large declines were observed for Steelhead, Dolly Varden, and Cutthroat Trout, intermediate declines in Coho and no change in Pink Salmon. These regime changes were associated with multiple cumulative effects across the salmon life cycle. For example, increased seal densities and ocean competition were associated with lower adult marine survival in Steelhead. Watershed logging also intensified over the past 40 years and was associated with (all else equal) >= 97% declines in freshwater productivity for Steelhead, Cutthroat, and Coho. For Steelhead, marine and freshwater dynamics played approximately equal roles in explaining trends in total productivity. Collectively, these changing environments limited juvenile production and lowered future adult returns. These results reveal how changes in freshwater and marine environments can jointly shape population dynamics among ecological communities, like Pacific salmon, with cascading consequences to their resilience. DOI PubMed
10. Hussey, NE; DiBattista, JD; Moore, JW; Ward, EJ; Fisk, AT; Kessel, S; Guttridge, TL; Feldheim, KA; Franks, BR; Gruber, SH; Weideli, OC; Chapman, DD. (2017) Risky business for a juvenile marine predator? Testing the influence of foraging strategies on size and growth rate under natural conditions.Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences 284 Risky business for a juvenile marine predator? Testing the influence of foraging strategies on size and growth rate under natural conditions
food web; lemon shark; life history; natural selection; predation risk; stable isotopes
Mechanisms driving selection of body size and growth rate in wild marine vertebrates are poorly understood, thus limiting knowledge of their fitness costs at ecological, physiological and genetic scales. Here, we indirectly tested whether selection for size-related traits of juvenile sharks that inhabit a nursery hosting two dichotomous habitats, protected mangroves (low predation risk) and exposed seagrass beds (high predation risk), is influenced by their foraging behaviour. Juvenile sharks displayed a continuum of foraging strategies between mangrove and seagrass areas, with some individuals preferentially feeding in one habitat over another. Foraging habitat was correlated with growth rate, whereby slower growing, smaller individuals fed predominantly in sheltered mangroves, whereas larger, faster growing animals fed over exposed seagrass. Concomitantly, tracked juveniles undertook variable movement behaviours across both the low and high predation risk habitat. These data provide supporting evidence for the hypothesis that directional selection favouring smaller size and slower growth rate, both heritable traits in this shark population, may be driven by variability in foraging behaviour and predation risk. Such evolutionary pathways may be critical to adaptation within predator-driven marine ecosystems. DOI
9. Braun, DC; Moore, JW; Candy, J; Bailey, RE. (2016) Population diversity in salmon: linkages among response, genetic and life history diversity.Ecography 39: 317-328 Population diversity in salmon: linkages among response, genetic and life history diversity
Response diversity and asynchrony are important for stability and resilience of meta-populations, however little is known about the mechanisms that might drive such processes. In salmon populations, response diversity and asynchrony have been linked to the stability of their meta-populations and the fisheries that integrate across them. We examined how population diversity influenced response diversity and asynchrony in 42 populations of Chinook salmon from the Fraser River, British Columbia. We examined diversity in the survival responses to large-scale ocean climate variables for populations that differed in life history. Different life-histories responded differently to ocean environmental conditions. For instance, an increase of offshore temperature was associated with decreased survival for a population with ocean rearing juveniles but increased survival for a population with stream rearing juveniles. In a second analysis, we examined asynchrony in abundance between populations, which we then correlated with life history, spatial, and genetic diversity. Populations that were more genetically distant had the most different population dynamics. Collectively, these results suggest that fine-scale population diversity can contribute to the asynchrony and response diversity that underpins the stability of fisheries or metapopulation dynamics, and emphasize the need to manage and conserve this scale of population diversity. DOI
8. Nesbitt, HK; Moore, JW. (2016) Species and population diversity in Pacific salmon fisheries underpin indigenous food security.Journal of Applied Ecology 53: 1489-1499 Species and population diversity in Pacific salmon fisheries underpin indigenous food security
aboriginal; biodiversity; diversity-stability; First Nations; portfolio effect; rights and title; small-scale fisheries; subsistence; traditional; watershed management
1. Indigenous people arc considered to be among the most vulnerable to food insecurity and biodiversity loss. Biodiversity is cited as a key component of indigenous food security; however, quantitative examples of this linkage are limited. 2. We examined how species and population diversity influence the food security of indigenous fisheries for Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus species). We compared two dimensions of food security- catch stability (interannual variability) and access (season length)- across a salmon diversity gradient for 21 fisheries on the Fraser River, Canada, over 30 years, using linear regression models. We used population diversity proxies derived from a range of existing measures because population-specific data were unavailable. 3. While both population and species diversity were generally associated with higher catch stability and temporal access, population diversity had a stronger signal. Fisheries with access to high species diversity had up to 1.4 times more stable catch than predicted by the portfolio effect and up to 1.2 times longer fishing seasons than fisheries with access to fewer species. Fisheries with access to high population diversity had up to 3.8 times more stable catch and three times longer seasons than fisheries with access to fewer populations. 4. Catch stability of Chinook Oncorhynchus tshawytschct and sockeye Oncorhynchus nerka fisheries was best explained by the number of populations and conservation units, respectively, that migrate past a fishery en route to spawning grounds. Similar population diversity metrics were important explanatory variables for season length of sockeye, pink Oncorhynchus god) uscha, coho Oncorhynchus kisutch and churn Oncorhynchus keta fisheries. 5. Synthesis and applications. We show an empirical example of how multiple scales of biodiversity support food security across a large watershed and suggest that protecting fine-scale salmon diversity will help promote food security for indigenous people. The scales of environmental assessments need to match the scales of the socio-ecological processes that will be affected by development. We illustrate that upstream projects that damage salmon habitat could degrade the food security of downstream indigenous fisheries, with implications to Canadian indigenous people and to watersheds around the world where migratory fishes support local fisheries. DOI
7. Anderson, SC; Moore, JW; McClure, MM; Dulvy, NK; Cooper, AB. (2015) Portfolio conservation of metapopulations under climate change.Ecological Applications 25: 559-572 Portfolio conservation of metapopulations under climate change
biocomplexity; diversity-stability ecosystem-based management; Oncorhynchus spp; Pacific salmon; portfolio effect; prioritization; range contraction; response diversity; risk assessment; stochastic simulation
Climate change is likely to lead to increasing population variability and extinction risk. Theoretically, greater population diversity should buffer against rising climate variability, and this theory is often invoked as a reason for greater conservation. However, this has rarely been quantified. Here we show how a portfolio approach to managing population diversity can inform metapopulation conservation priorities in a changing world. We develop a salmon metapopulation model in which productivity is driven by spatially distributed thermal tolerance and patterns of short- and long-term climate change. We then implement spatial conservation scenarios that control population carrying capacities and evaluate the metapopulation portfolios as a financial manager might: along axes of conservation risk and return. We show that preserving a diversity of thermal tolerances minimizes risk, given environmental stochasticity, and ensures persistence, given long-term environmental change. When the thermal tolerances of populations are unknown, doubling the number of populations conserved may nearly halve expected metapopulation variability. However, this reduction in variability can come at the expense of long-term persistence if climate change increasingly restricts available habitat, forcing ecological managers to balance society's desire for short-term stability and long-term viability. Our findings suggest the importance of conserving the processes that promote thermal-tolerance diversity, such as genetic diversity, habitat heterogeneity, and natural disturbance regimes, and demonstrate that diverse natural portfolios may be critical for metapopulation conservation in the face of increasing climate variability and change. DOI
6.Moore, JW; Carr-Harris, C; Gottesfeld, AS; MacIntyre, D; Radies, D; Cleveland, M; Barnes, C; Joseph, W; Williams, G; Gordon, J; Shepert, B. (2015) Selling First Nations down the river.Science 349: 596-596 Selling First Nations down the river
5.Moore, K.D., and J.W. Moore. (2013) Ecological restoration and enabling behavior: a new metaphoric lens?Conservation Letters 6:1-5 Ecological restoration and enabling behavior: a new metaphoric lens?
Ecological restoration practices are changing rapidly, dramatically, and in complex ways, with higher and higher stakes both for the restoration industries themselves and for the future of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Even as ecosystem degradation has accelerated, restoration has grown into a transnational, multibillion dollar industry. These changes create an imperative for correspondingly rapid and dramatic changes in the metaphoric lenses through which we view restoration projects. In this Policy Perspectives paper, we explore a metaphor that views ecological restoration through the lens of codependency theories about enabling behaviors in the lives of addicts. The metaphor raises questions about the nature of the relation between restoration practices and an industrial growth economy “addicted” to cheap fuel and consumer goods. It suggests some policy changes that might prevent development of co-dependencies between restoration industries and ecologically destructive practices.PDF DOI
4. Yeakel, J.D., J.W. Moore, M. de Aguiar, and P. Guimarães. (2013) Stability and synchronization in river networks.Ecology Letters In Press Stability and synchronization in river networks.
Spatial structure in landscapes impacts population stability. Two linked components of stability have large consequences for persistence: first, statistical stability as the lack of temporal fluctuations; second, synchronisation as an aspect of dynamic stability, which erodes metapopulation rescue effects. Here, we determine the influence of river network structure on the stability of riverine metapopulations. We introduce an approach that converts river networks to metapopulation networks, and analytically show how fluctuation magnitude is influenced by interaction structure. We show that river metapopulation complexity (in terms of branching prevalence) has nonlinear dampening effects on population fluctuations, and can also buffer against synchronisation. We conclude by showing that river transects generally increase synchronisation, while the spatial scale of interaction has nonlinear effects on synchronised dynamics. Our results indicate that this dual stability - conferred by fluctuation and synchronisation dampening - emerges from interaction structure in rivers, and this may strongly influence the persistence of river metapopulations.PDF
3. Twardochleb, L.A., M. Novak, and J.W. Moore. (2012) Using the functional response of a consumer to predict biotic resistance to invasive prey.Ecological Applications 22: 1162-1171 Using the functional response of a consumer to predict biotic resistance to invasive prey.
biotic resistance; crayfish; New Zealand mud snail; Pacifastacus leniusculus; Potamopyrgus antipodarum; predation; propagule pressure; San Lorenzo River, California, USA; stream; type 3 functional response
Predators sometimes provide biotic resistance against invasions by nonnative prey. Understanding and predicting the strength of biotic resistance remains a key challenge in invasion biology. A predator's functional response to nonnative prey may predict whether a predator can provide biotic resistance against nonnative prey at different prey densities. Surprisingly, functional responses have not been used to make quantitative predictions about biotic resistance. We parameterized the functional response of signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) to invasive New Zealand mud snails (Potamopyrgus antipodarum; NZMS) and used this functional response and a simple model of NZMS population growth to predict the probability of biotic resistance at different predator and prey densities. Signal crayfish were effective predators of NZMS, consuming more than 900 NZMS per predator in a 12-h period, and Bayesian model fitting indicated their consumption rate followed a type 3 functional response to NZMS density. Based on this functional response and associated parameter uncertainty, we predict that NZMS will be able to invade new systems at low crayfish densities (<0.2 crayfish/m(2)) regardless of NZMS density. At intermediate to high crayfish densities (>0.2 crayfish/m(2)), we predict that low densities of NZMS will be able to establish in new communities; however, once NZMS reach a threshold density of similar to 2000 NZMS/m(2), predation by crayfish will drive negative NZMS population growth. Further, at very high densities, NZMS overwhelm predation by crayfish and invade. Thus, interacting thresholds of propagule pressure and predator densities define the probability of biotic resistance. Quantifying the shape and uncertainty of predator functional responses to nonnative prey may help predict the outcomes of invasions.PDF
2.Moore, J.W., and D.E. Schindler. (2010) Spawning salmon and the phenology of emergence in stream insects.Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences 277: 1695-1703 Spawning salmon and the phenology of emergence in stream insects
ecosystem engineer; disturbance regime; bioturbation; marine-derived nutrients
Phenological dynamics are controlled by environmental factors, disturbance regimes and species interactions that alter growth or mortality risk. Ecosystem engineers can be a key source of disturbance, yet their effects on the phenologies of co-occurring organisms are virtually unexplored. We investigated how the abundance of a dominant ecosystem engineer, spawning sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), alters the emergence phenology of stream insects. In streams with high densities of salmon, peak insect emergence occurred in early July, immediately prior to salmon spawning. By contrast, peak insect emergence in streams with low densities of salmon was weeks later and more protracted. The emergence of specific taxa was also significantly related to salmon density. A common rearing experiment revealed that differences in emergence timing are maintained in the absence of spawning salmon. We hypothesize that these patterns are probably driven by predictable and severe disturbance from nest-digging salmon driving local adaptation and being a trait filter of insect emergence. Thus, salmon regulate the timing and duration of aquatic insect emergence, a cross-ecosystem flux from streams to riparian systems. DOI
1.Moore, J.W., and B.X. Semmens. (2008) Incorporating uncertainty and prior information into stable isotope mixing models.Ecology Letters 11: 470-480 Incorporating uncertainty and prior information into stable isotope mixing models
bayesian; carbon; diet; food web; isotopic fractionation; MixSIR; nitrogen; rainbow trout; salmon; sampling importance resampling
Stable isotopes are a powerful tool for ecologists, often used to assess contributions of different sources to a mixture (e.g. prey to a consumer). Mixing models use stable isotope data to estimate the contribution of sources to a mixture. Uncertainty associated with mixing models is often substantial, but has not yet been fully incorporated in models. We developed a Bayesian-mixing model that estimates probability distributions of source contributions to a mixture while explicitly accounting for uncertainty associated with multiple sources, fractionation and isotope signatures. This model also allows for optional incorporation of informative prior information in analyses. We demonstrate our model using a predator-prey case study. Accounting for uncertainty in mixing model inputs can change the variability, magnitude and rank order of estimates of prey (source) contributions to the predator (mixture). Isotope mixing models need to fully account for uncertainty in order to accurately estimate source contributions. DOI
