Salmon carcasses as a marine-derived resource for benthic macroinvertebrates in a developing postglacial stream, Alaska

KA Monaghan, Alexander Milner

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Streams formed in Glacier Bay, southeast Alaska, following glacial recession rapidly support populations of spawning salmon. Using both observational and experimental approaches, we examined the importance of pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) carcasses for benthic macroinvertebrate communities, approximately 10 years after salmon first colonized Wolf Point Creek, a first-order, lake-fed stream. Macroinvertebrate abundance on carcasses naturally accumulating in the stream channel was low, dominated by chironomids (Eukiefferiella spp.). Macroinvertebrate drift was significantly lower from artificial experimental channels containing salmon flesh (P <0.001) compared with channels without. However, the density and community structure of macroinvertebrates colonizing rock baskets in channels was not significantly different between treatments. In a separate experiment, colonization of substrate trays with salmon and control (inert) fillets were associated with differences in community structure; simuliids dominated control fillets, and chironomids dominated fish fillets, while underlying stone substrate was colonized by a more diverse community including Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera taxa (EPT). Excluding simuliids, abundance was significantly higher on fish compared with control fillets (P <0.001). These data suggest that scales and mucus prevent the direct consumption of flesh from whole carcasses, highlighting the role predators-scavengers in facilitating flesh consumption by benthic macroinvertebrates.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1342-1351
Number of pages10
JournalCanadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
Volume65
Issue number7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2008

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