Insights from a year of field deployments inform the conservation of an endangered estuarine fish.

IF 2.6 3区 环境科学与生态学 Q2 BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION Conservation Physiology Pub Date : 2024-12-26 eCollection Date: 2024-01-01 DOI:10.1093/conphys/coae088
Brittany E Davis, Bruce G Hammock, Nicole Kwan, Catarina Pien, Heather Bell, Rosemary Hartman, Melinda R Baerwald, Brian Schreier, Daphne Gille, Shawn Acuña, Swee Teh, Tien-Chieh Hung, Luke Ellison, Dennis E Cocherell, Nann A Fangue
{"title":"Insights from a year of field deployments inform the conservation of an endangered estuarine fish.","authors":"Brittany E Davis, Bruce G Hammock, Nicole Kwan, Catarina Pien, Heather Bell, Rosemary Hartman, Melinda R Baerwald, Brian Schreier, Daphne Gille, Shawn Acuña, Swee Teh, Tien-Chieh Hung, Luke Ellison, Dennis E Cocherell, Nann A Fangue","doi":"10.1093/conphys/coae088","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Freshwater fishes are increasingly facing extinction. Some species will require conservation intervention such as habitat restoration and/or population supplementation through mass-release of hatchery fish. In California, USA, a number of conservation strategies are underway to increase abundance of the endangered Delta Smelt (<i>Hypomesus transpacificus</i>); however, it is unclear how different estuarine conditions influence hatchery fish. The goal of this study was to evaluate a year of Delta Smelt field deployments to inform species conservation strategies of suitable conditions for smelt physiology. Hatchery-reared Delta Smelt was deployed in experimental cages (seven deployments) throughout the Estuary in the winter, summer and fall of 2019. Effects of season and location of cage deployments on fish health (condition factor and histological condition of liver and gill), growth, thermal tolerance and survival were evaluated. The results indicate both seasonal and location differences, with high survival in the winter (100%) and fall (88-92%) compared to lower survival in summer (67%). In the summer, one of the study sites had no surviving fish following high temperature exposure, which peaked ~26°C. After 29 days in the cages, surviving Delta Smelt in summer and fall showed signs of nutritional stress that may be related to biofouling of the cages limiting passive food inputs, restriction of natural foraging behaviour by containment in the cages, and water temperatures that were too high given the chronically low pelagic productivity in the Estuary overall. Field measurements of upper thermal tolerance (CTmax) following caging exposures suggest that laboratory measures of CTmax may overestimate the realized tolerance in a more stochastic field environment. This study demonstrates the utility of using cages as an experimental tool to better understand aspects of Delta Smelt physiological responses to environmental changes across estuarine habitats in a more natural-field setting, while also highlighting potential limitations of using cages.</p>","PeriodicalId":54331,"journal":{"name":"Conservation Physiology","volume":"12 1","pages":"coae088"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11669484/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Conservation Physiology","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1093/conphys/coae088","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/1/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0

Abstract

Freshwater fishes are increasingly facing extinction. Some species will require conservation intervention such as habitat restoration and/or population supplementation through mass-release of hatchery fish. In California, USA, a number of conservation strategies are underway to increase abundance of the endangered Delta Smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus); however, it is unclear how different estuarine conditions influence hatchery fish. The goal of this study was to evaluate a year of Delta Smelt field deployments to inform species conservation strategies of suitable conditions for smelt physiology. Hatchery-reared Delta Smelt was deployed in experimental cages (seven deployments) throughout the Estuary in the winter, summer and fall of 2019. Effects of season and location of cage deployments on fish health (condition factor and histological condition of liver and gill), growth, thermal tolerance and survival were evaluated. The results indicate both seasonal and location differences, with high survival in the winter (100%) and fall (88-92%) compared to lower survival in summer (67%). In the summer, one of the study sites had no surviving fish following high temperature exposure, which peaked ~26°C. After 29 days in the cages, surviving Delta Smelt in summer and fall showed signs of nutritional stress that may be related to biofouling of the cages limiting passive food inputs, restriction of natural foraging behaviour by containment in the cages, and water temperatures that were too high given the chronically low pelagic productivity in the Estuary overall. Field measurements of upper thermal tolerance (CTmax) following caging exposures suggest that laboratory measures of CTmax may overestimate the realized tolerance in a more stochastic field environment. This study demonstrates the utility of using cages as an experimental tool to better understand aspects of Delta Smelt physiological responses to environmental changes across estuarine habitats in a more natural-field setting, while also highlighting potential limitations of using cages.

查看原文
分享 分享
微信好友 朋友圈 QQ好友 复制链接
本刊更多论文
求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 去求助
来源期刊
Conservation Physiology
Conservation Physiology Environmental Science-Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
CiteScore
5.10
自引率
3.70%
发文量
71
审稿时长
11 weeks
期刊介绍: Conservation Physiology is an online only, fully open access journal published on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology. Biodiversity across the globe faces a growing number of threats associated with human activities. Conservation Physiology will publish research on all taxa (microbes, plants and animals) focused on understanding and predicting how organisms, populations, ecosystems and natural resources respond to environmental change and stressors. Physiology is considered in the broadest possible terms to include functional and mechanistic responses at all scales. We also welcome research towards developing and refining strategies to rebuild populations, restore ecosystems, inform conservation policy, and manage living resources. We define conservation physiology broadly and encourage potential authors to contact the editorial team if they have any questions regarding the remit of the journal.
期刊最新文献
Guiding plant conservation using physiological tools: how mechanistic research can bridge disciplinary divides. Prior thermal acclimation gives White Sturgeon a fin up dealing with low oxygen. Insights from a year of field deployments inform the conservation of an endangered estuarine fish. Ecological features of upriver migration in Kitakami River chum salmon and their connection to aerobic thermal performance. Blubber biopsy biomarkers for baleen whales.
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
现在去查看 取消
×
提示
确定
0
微信
客服QQ
Book学术公众号 扫码关注我们
反馈
×
意见反馈
请填写您的意见或建议
请填写您的手机或邮箱
已复制链接
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
×
扫码分享
扫码分享
Book学术官方微信
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术
文献互助 智能选刊 最新文献 互助须知 联系我们:info@booksci.cn
Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。
Copyright © 2023 Book学术 All rights reserved.
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号 京ICP备2023020795号-1