A review of factors influencing the availability of dissolved oxygen to incubating salmonid embryos

Previous investigations into factors influencing incubation success of salmonid progeny have largely been limited to the development of empirical relationships between characteristics of the incubation environment and survival to emergence. It is suggested that adopting a process-based approach to assessing incubation success aids identification of the precise causes of embryonic mortalities, and provides a robust framework for developing and implementing managerial responses. Identifying oxygen availability within the incubation environment as a limiting factor, a comprehensive review of trends in embryonic respiration, and processes influencing the flux of oxygenated water through gravel riverbeds is provided. The availability of oxygen to incubating salmonid embryos is dependent on the exchange of oxygenated water with the riverbed, and the ability of the riverbed gravel medium to transport this water at a rate and concentration appropriate to support embryonic respiratory requirements. Embryonic respiratory trends indicate that oxygen consumption varies with stage of development, ambient water temperature and oxygen availability. The flux of oxygenated water through the incubation environment is controlled by a complex interaction of intragravel and extragravel processes and factors. The processes driving the exchange of channel water with gravel riverbeds include bed topography, bed permeability, and surface roughness effects. The flux of oxygenated water through riverbed gravels is controlled by gravel permeability, coupling of surface–subsurface flow and oxygen demands imposed by materials infiltrating riverbed gravels. Temporally and spatially variable inputs of groundwater can also influence the oxygen concentration of interstitial water.

[1]  E. Garside,et al.  Hourly and total oxygen consumption by ova of Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., during embryogenesis, at two temperatures and three levels of dissolved oxygen , 1979 .

[2]  G. Kondolf,et al.  Modification of fluvial gravel size by spawning salmonids , 1993 .

[3]  D. T. Crisp,et al.  Observations on siting, dimensions and structure of salmonid redds , 1989 .

[4]  R. Phillips,et al.  Some Effects of Gravel Mixtures on Emergence of Coho Salmon and Steelhead Trout Fry , 1975 .

[5]  C. Soulsby,et al.  Groundwater in headwaters: hydrological and ecological significance , 2000, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[6]  Jeremy B. Jones,et al.  Chemoautotrophic production and respiration in the hyporheic zone of a sonoran desert stream , 1994 .

[7]  Thomas E. Lisle,et al.  Sediment Transport and Resulting Deposition in Spawning Gravels, North Coastal California , 1989 .

[8]  M. Inoue,et al.  Effects of woody debris on the habitat of juvenile masu salmon (Oncorhynchus masou) in northern Japanese streams , 1998 .

[9]  M. McHenry,et al.  Changes in Salmon Spawning and Rearing Habitat from Increased Delivery of Fine Sediment to the South Fork Salmon River, Idaho , 1989 .

[10]  E. Garside,et al.  Size relations and yolk utilization in embryonated ova and alevins of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L. in various combinations of temperature and dissolved oxygen. , 1977, Canadian journal of zoology.

[11]  Robert L. Beschta,et al.  The Intrusion of Fine Sediments into a Stable Gravel Bed , 1979 .

[12]  W. P. Wickett,et al.  The Oxygen Supply to Salmon Eggs in Spawning Beds , 1954 .

[13]  P. Diplas,et al.  Pollution of Gravel spawning grounds due to fine sediment , 1985 .

[14]  L. Thibodeaux,et al.  Convective transport within stable river sediments , 1987 .

[15]  G. Mathias Kondolf,et al.  The sizes of salmonid spawning gravels , 1993 .

[16]  R. Storey,et al.  Biological, chemical and physical characteristics of downwelling and upwelling zones in the hyporheic zone of a north-temperate stream , 2001, Hydrobiologia.

[17]  K. Bencala,et al.  The Effect of streambed topography on surface‐subsurface water exchange in mountain catchments , 1993 .

[18]  H. C. White.  Atlantic Salmon Redds and Artificial Spawning Beds , 1942 .

[19]  Chris Soulsby,et al.  Heterogeneity in ground water–surface water interactions in the hyporheic zone of a salmonid spawning stream , 2003 .

[20]  L. Thibodeaux,et al.  Bedform-generated convective transport in bottom sediment , 1987, Nature.

[21]  P. N. Daykin.  Application of Mass Transfer Theory to the Problem of Respiration of Fish Eggs , 1965 .

[22]  K. Panek.  Depth boundaries of bedsediments in an alpine stream (Ritrodat-Lunz study area, Austria) , 1994 .

[23]  M. Sophocleous.  Interactions between groundwater and surface water: the state of the science , 2002 .

[24]  Ernest O. Salo,et al.  Cumulative effects of logging road sediment on salmonid populations in the Clearwater River, Jefferson County, Washington , 1981 .

[25]  David A. Sear,et al.  Fine sediment infiltration into gravel spawning beds within a regulated river experiencing floods: Ecological implications for salmonids , 1993 .

[26]  Chris Soulsby,et al.  Hydrochemistry of the hyporheic zone in salmon spawning gravels: a preliminary assessment in a degraded agricultural stream , 2001 .

[27]  J. Stanford,et al.  The hyporheic habitat of river ecosystems , 1988, Nature.

[28]  T. C. Bjornn,et al.  A New Method of Relating Size of Spawning Gravel to Salmonid Embryo Survival , 1983 .

[29]  Fu-Chun Wu.  Modeling embryo survival affected by sediment deposition into salmonid spawning gravels: Application to flushing flow prescriptions , 2000 .

[30]  E. Garside.  Effects of Oxygen in Relation to Temperature on the Development of Embryos of Brook Trout and Rainbow Trout , 1966 .

[31]  J. Newbold,et al.  10 – Surface and Subsurface Dissolved Organic Carbon , 2000 .

[32]  M. Dole‐Olivier.  Surface water-groundwater exchanges in three dimensions on a backwater of the Rhône river , 1998 .

[33]  M. Brunke,et al.  The ecological significance of exchange processes between rivers and groundwater , 1997 .

[34]  Thomas E. Lisle,et al.  Effects of Sediment Transport on Survival of Salmonid Embryos in a Natural Stream: A Simulation Approach , 1992 .

[35]  R. Williams,et al.  Effects of sedimentation on the gravels of an industrial river system , 1980 .

[36]  C. Murray,et al.  Physicochemical Characteristics of the Hyporheic Zone Affect Redd Site Selection by Chum Salmon and Fall Chinook Salmon in the Columbia River , 2002 .

[37]  P. Marmonier,et al.  A Perspective on the Permeability of the Surface Freshwater-Groundwater Ecotone , 1992, Journal of the North American Benthological Society.

[38]  G. Power,et al.  Prediction of Rainbow Trout Embryo Survival in Relation to Groundwater Seepage and Particle Size of Spawning Substrates , 1985 .

[39]  P. Carling.  Deposition of Fine and Coarse Sand in an Open-Work Gravel Bed , 1984 .

[40]  Peter J. Rombough,et al.  Growth, aerobic metabolism, and dissolved oxygen requirements of embryos and alevins of steelhead, Salmo gairdneri , 1988 .

[41]  Emily H. Stanley,et al.  THE FUNCTIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE HYPORHEIC ZONE IN STREAMS AND RIVERS , 1998 .

[42]  D. Sear,et al.  The impact of fine sediment accumulation on the survival of incubating salmon progeny: implications for sediment management. , 2005, The Science of the total environment.

[43]  T. Burton,et al.  Field Testing of New Monitoring Protocols to Assess Brown Trout Spawning Habitat in an Idaho Stream , 1993 .

[44]  J. Tóth.  A Theoretical Analysis of Groundwater Flow in Small Drainage Basins , 1963 .

[45]  T. C. Winter,et al.  Ground Water and Surface Water: A Single Resource , 1999 .

[46]  D. T. Crisp,et al.  A desk study of the relationship between temperature and hatching time for the eggs of five species of salmonid fishes , 1981 .

[47]  H. Hynes.  Groundwater and stream ecology , 2004, Hydrobiologia.

[48]  D. Strayer,et al.  Metabolism of streamwater dissolved organic carbon in the shallow hyporheic zone , 1993 .

[49]  Bobby D. Combs.  Effect of Temperature on the Development of Salmon Eggs , 1965 .

[50]  Donghuo Zhou,et al.  Effects of Porous Bed on Turbulent Stream Flow above Bed , 1992 .

[51]  Ian Reid,et al.  The infiltration of fine matrices into coarse-grained alluvial sediments and its implications for stratigraphical interpretation , 1984, Journal of the Geological Society.

[52]  D. W. Chapman,et al.  Critical Review of Variables Used to Define Effects of Fines in Redds of Large Salmonids , 1988 .

[53]  E. Garside,et al.  Developmental rates of embryos of Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., in response to various levels of temperature, dissolved oxygen, and water exchange. , 1976, Canadian journal of zoology.

[54]  S. Einum,et al.  Egg-size evolution in aquatic environments: does oxygen availability constrain size? , 2002, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences.

[55]  J. C. Mason.  Hypoxial Stress Prior to Emergence and Competition Among Coho Salmon Fry , 1969 .

[56]  Donghuo Zhou,et al.  FLOW THROUGH POROUS BED OF TURBULENT STREAM , 1993 .

[57]  E. N. Harvey.  THE OXYGEN CONSUMPTION OF LUMINOUS BACTERIA , 1928, The Journal of general physiology.

[58]  T. Wesche,et al.  Selection of measures of substrate composition to estimate survival to emergence of salmonids and to detect changes in stream substrates , 1991 .

[59]  D. S. White,et al.  Biological relationships to convective flow patterns within stream beds , 1990, Hydrobiologia.

[60]  John C. Davis.  Minimal Dissolved Oxygen Requirements of Aquatic Life with Emphasis on Canadian Species: a Review , 1975 .

[61]  R. Edwards.  The Hyporheic Zone , 1998 .

[62]  C. E. Warren,et al.  Influence of Oxygen Concentration and Water Movement on the Growth of Steelhead Trout and Coho Salmon Embryos , 1964 .

[63]  D. Williams,et al.  SEASONAL BOUNDARY DYNAMICS OF A GROUNDWATER/ SURFACE-WATER ECOTONE , 1998 .

[64]  T. Angradi,et al.  An application of the plaster dissolution method for quantifying water velocity in the shallow hyporheic zone of an Appalachian stream system , 1998 .

[65]  D. Noakes,et al.  Groundwater and the selection of spawning sites by brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) , 1995 .

[66]  R. Beschta,et al.  Fine sediment and salmonid production: a paradox , 1987 .

[67]  C. Frissell,et al.  A hierarchical framework for stream habitat classification: Viewing streams in a watershed context , 1986 .

[68]  S. Findlay.  Importance of surface‐subsurface exchange in stream ecosystems: The hyporheic zone , 1995 .

[69]  Florian Malard,et al.  Oxygen supply and the adaptations of animals in groundwater , 1999 .

[70]  C. E. Warren,et al.  Dissolved Oxygen Requirements of Developing Steelhead Trout and Chinook Salmon Embryos at Different Water Velocities , 1963 .

[71]  Hans A. Einstein,et al.  Deposition of Suspended Particles in a Gravel Bed , 1968 .

[72]  J. Dempson,et al.  Target spawning requirements for Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., in Newfoundland rivers , 1995 .

[73]  David S. White,et al.  Perspectives on Defining and Delineating Hyporheic Zones , 1993, Journal of the North American Benthological Society.

[74]  D. Ingendahl,et al.  Dissolved oxygen concentration and emergence of sea trout fry from natural redds in tributaries of the River Rhine , 2001 .

[75]  J. R. Brett,et al.  Some Effects of Temporary Exposure to Low Dissolved Oxygen Levels on Pacific Salmon Eggs , 1958 .