Record Details
Estimating Habitat-Specific Abundances of PIT-Tagged Juvenile Salmonids Using Mobile Antennas: A Comparison with Standard Electrofishing Techniques in a Small Stream
ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | Estimating Habitat-Specific Abundances of PIT-Tagged Juvenile Salmonids Using Mobile Antennas: A Comparison with Standard Electrofishing Techniques in a Small Stream |
| Names |
Sloat, Matthew R.
(creator) Baker, Peter F. (creator) Ligon, Franklin K. (creator) |
| Date Issued | 2011 (iso8601) |
| Note | This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted the American Fisheries Society and can be found at: http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ujfm20/current. |
| Abstract | The use of passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags in ecological studies is increasingly common, but evaluations of their performance and range of application in the field are still emerging. Here, we compare habitat unit–scale abundance estimates of PIT-tagged juvenile coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch and steelhead O. mykiss derived from multiple-pass surveys with a submersible pole-mounted PIT antenna and backpack electrofishing in a small coastal California stream. We found high concordance of methods for coho salmon and age-0 steelhead and moderate concordance for age-1 and older steelhead. Regression analysis of PIT antenna estimates on electrofishing estimates indicated an approximately one-to-one relationship between methods. Regression intercepts for coho salmon and age-0 steelhead were significantly greater than zero, but the differences were small (with an effect equivalent to less than one fish). We found no evidence that pool area, cover area, or cover complexity influenced the relationship between methods for coho salmon and age-0 steelhead, but some evidence that electrofishing may be more effective than PIT antennas for estimating the abundance of age-1 and older steelhead in pools with high cover complexity. Our results demonstrate that surveys using submersible PIT antennas can provide habitat unit–scale estimates of juvenile salmonid abundance similar to those derived from electrofishing in small streams. An advantage of using PIT antennas is that they allow fish abundance estimation without fish recapture and frequent sampling can occur without subjecting study animals to excessive handling stress or mortality. This is a particularly important consideration in studies of small populations, sensitive species, or fish listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. |
| Genre | Article |
| Identifier | Matthew R. Sloat, Peter F. Baker & Franklin K. Ligon (2011): Estimating Habitat-Specific Abundances of PIT-Tagged Juvenile Salmonids Using Mobile Antennas: A Comparison with Standard Electrofishing Techniques in a Small Stream, North American Journal of Fisheries Management, 31:5, 986-993 |
