Dan Bottom
Team Leader
Team Staff Directory
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NWFSC researchers assessing the abundance of juvenile salmon in Columbia River estuary marsh habitats
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The Estuary Team of the Estuarine and Ocean Ecology Program researches the habitats, species, and ecological processes of Pacific Northwest estuaries, which are among the most productive ecosystems on earth. Estuaries provide important rearing and feeding habitats for a diversity of aquatic and terrestrial species, yet relatively little is known about their basic ecology or the impacts of intensive human development. A primary goal of the Estuary Team's research is to understand the role of Northwest estuaries in the life history of juvenile salmon for the purpose of restoring estuarine habitat and at-risk salmon populations.
The Estuary Team is involved in two major collaborative studies with a variety of research institutions and agencies.
- Researching the effects of three salt-marsh restoration projects in Salmon River estuary on the central Oregon coast. Since 1978, the Forest Service has removed one artificial dike from a former Salmon River wetland every nine years. Removing the artificial dike restores tidal inundation and creates a series of restoration "experiments" in different stages of recovery. The Estuary Team is taking advantage of this unique natural laboratory to study rates of salt marsh succession, to compare salmon use of marshes in different stages of recovery, and to investigate the effects of restoration on salmon as measured by life-history diversity, food consumption, and growth. In 2003, the team will expand this research to test whether the patterns of wetland use observed in the Salmon River estuary apply to natural and restored marshes in other Northwest estuaries. Cooperators on this project include researchers from the Oregon and Washington Departments of Fish and Wildlife, the University of Washington, and Oregon State University.
- Evaluating the effects of flow management and historic habitat change on juvenile salmon in the Columbia River estuary. Investigators from the NWFSC, University of Washington, Oregon Health and Science University, and the Oregon and Washington Departments of Fish and Wildlife are monitoring fish assemblages, salmon life histories, and physical variables in the lower estuary (river mouth to RM 40). The study evaluates fish and prey assemblages within selected tidal wetlands and analyzes historic changes in flow, sediment input, and salmon rearing opportunities throughout the tidal river (mouth to Bonneville Dam). In 2003, the Columbia River Estuary Team will expand the ongoing monitoring effort to further study the effects of habitat change and flow regulation on estuarine food chains that support juvenile salmon. The team will also use models to compare the relative effects of river modifications and flow regulation on salmon habitat availability and to evaluate the effectiveness of alternative scenarios for restoring estuarine habitat.
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