Salmonid Series

How can we restore form and function to rivers, streams, and wetlands that support Pacific Salmon?  This course provides the intellectual tools to tackle assessment monitoring and restoration design of Pacific salmonid habitat.  

Some of the basic topics and questions covered include:

• History of salmonid habitat restoration – How long have salmon issues been issues?  How have we responded?  What’s been working and what hasn’t?
• Ecohydraulics – How does stream flow affect salmonid ecology and habitat forming processes?  What basic ecohydraulic processes do we need to account for?  What tools should we use? How can we use ecohydraulics to understand why a site is functional versus non-functional? 
• Ecohydraulic design – the basic act of designing channel and floodplain features to meet specific target depths and velocities.  How do we take basic habitat information and design functional ecosystems?
• Sediment transport – sediment is a vital aspect of rivers and streams and a key variable known to affect spawning.  How does sediment move in rivers?  How can we measure and model it?   What tools are available?
• Forcing Elements – what role does wood and coarse sediment play in salmon rivers and streams?  How can we integrate Forcing elements into our design and management plans?
• Monitoring – How do we measure project success?
• Modern river restoration techniques – What tools do we have to restore salmonid habitat form and function?
• Fish passage – How do we assess and correct fish passage limiting factors?

Salmonids, including Pacific salmon and trout, are an important component of ecologic and economic health in western North America. Salmon and trout of the Pacific Coast have continued to evolve in the face of natural disturbances such as floods, fires, volcanoes, wind-throw and disease. In fact, these influences have helped these species maintain their resiliency. Even when natural disturbances have been severe their effects have remained localized, thereby allowing ecosystems to more easily recover. However, the magnitude of human-caused disturbances may be so great that irreversible changes will occur by increasing the impact that natural disturbances have on aquatic communities, resulting in both acute and chronic consequences for salmonids. Moreover, the changes that human activities create may be so widespread that the recovery of individual ecosystems and their components, including salmonid stocks, could be drastically altered.

While each salmonid is unique, the genetic diversity within species across drainages may be as significant as those found across different species. Despite this variety, salmonid stream management, recovery and protection initiatives rely on certain fundamental biological requirements.

This course will provide general information regarding:

• Origins and evolution of Pacific North American Salmon;
• Life stages of salmon and trout in both coastal and inland streams;
• The habitat requirements applicable to each life stage;
• Substrate quality and hydraulic flow affecting spawning behavior and redd success;
• How habitat features, in-stream complexity, bank structure and large woody debris influence success of salmonids at different life-stages;
• How water chemistry, water temperature and food availability affect trout and salmon behavior; and
• How migration patterns can be impeded or enhanced by changes in flow, water quality, barriers or obstacles

Please wait to receive a course confirmation email, roughly one month prior to the class, before making any travel arrangements.