Comparing Historical and Contemporary Observations of Avian Fauna on the Yáláƛi (Goose Island) Archipelago, British Columbia, Canada.

In an era of global change, historical natural history data can improve our understanding of ecological phenomena, particularly when evaluated with contemporary Indigenous and place-based knowledge. The Yáláƛi (Goose Island) Archipelago is a group of islands in Heiltsuk (Haíɫzaqv) territory on the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Not only has this region been important to the Heiltsuk for millennia but also it is both a federally and internationally recognized important bird area.

Habitat modulates population-level responses of freshwater salmon growth to a century of change in climate and competition.

The impacts of climate change are widespread and threaten natural systems globally. Yet, within regions, heterogeneous physical landscapes can differentially filter climate, leading to local response diversity. For example, it is possible that while freshwater lakes are sensitive to climate change, they may exhibit a diversity of thermal responses owing to their unique morphology, which in turn can differentially affect the growth and survival of vulnerable biota such as fishes.

Not all who wander are lost: Trail bias in community science.

The exponential growth and interest in community science programs is producing staggering amounts of biodiversity data across broad temporal and spatial scales. Large community science datasets such as iNaturalist and eBird are allowing ecologists and conservation biologists to answer novel questions that were not possible before. However, the opportunistic nature of many of these enormous datasets leads to biases.

Experimental addition of marine-derived nutrients affects wildflower traits in a coastal meta-ecosystem.

Organismal movement can bring individuals, resources and novel interactions across ecosystem boundaries and into recipient habitats, thereby forming meta-ecosystems. For example, Pacific salmon ecosystems receive large marine-derived nitrogen subsidies during annual spawning events, which can have a wide range of effects on aquatic and terrestrial plant species and communities. In this study, we evaluate the effects of cross-ecosystem nutrient subsidies on terrestrial plant growth and reproduction.

Scale-dependent effects of marine subsidies on the island biogeographic patterns of plants.

Although species richness can be determined by different mechanisms at different spatial scales, the role of scale in the effects of marine inputs on island biogeography has not been studied explicitly. Here, we evaluated the potential influence of island characteristics and marine inputs (seaweed wrack biomass and marine-derived nitrogen in the soil) on plant species richness at both a local (plot) and regional (island) scale on 92 islands in British Columbia, Canada. We found that the effects of subsidies on species richness depend strongly on spatial scale.

Marine subsidy promotes spatial and dietary niche variation in an omnivore, the Keen's mouse ().

Marine-derived resource subsidies can generate intrapopulation variation in the behaviors and diets of terrestrial consumers. How omnivores respond, given their multiple trophic interactions, is not well understood. We sampled mice () and their food sources at five sites on three islands of the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada, to test predictions regarding variation in the spatial behavior and consumption of marine-subsidized foods among individuals.

Salmon subsidies predict territory size and habitat selection of an avian insectivore.

The annual migration and spawning event of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) can lead to cross-boundary delivery of marine-derived nutrients from their carcasses into adjacent terrestrial ecosystems. The densities of some passerine species, including Pacific wrens (Troglodytes pacificus), have been shown to be positively correlated with salmon abundance along streams in Alaska and British Columbia, but mechanisms maintaining these densities remain poorly understood.

Bias in self-reported parasite data from the salmon farming industry.

Many industries are required to monitor themselves in meeting regulatory policies intended to protect the environment. Self-reporting of environmental performance can place the cost of monitoring on companies rather than taxpayers, but there are obvious risks of bias, often addressed through external audits or inspections. Surprisingly, there have been relatively few empirical analyses of bias in industry self-reported data.

Salmon abundance and patterns of forest greenness as measured by satellite imagery.

Linkages across ecosystems can shape productivity. Salmon carcasses are exemplary of cross-system linkages, because they can fertilize riparian vegetation and shape patterns of terrestrial biodiversity. Detection of salmon fertilization effects has been confined to field-based studies that are limited in scale.

Relationships between Pacific salmon and aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems: implications for ecosystem-based management.

Pacific salmon influence temperate terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems through the dispersal of marine-derived nutrients and ecosystem engineering of stream beds when spawning. They also support large fisheries, particularly along the west coast of North America. We provide a comprehensive synthesis of relationships between the densities of Pacific salmon and terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, summarize the direction, shape, and magnitude of these relationships, and identify possible ecosystem-based management indicators and benchmarks.

Marine subsidies mediate patterns in avian island biogeography.

The classical , which predicts species richness using island area and isolation, has been expanded to include contributions from marine subsidies, i.e. (SIB) .

Salmon increase forest bird abundance and diversity.

Resource subsidies across ecosystems can have strong and unforeseen ecological impacts. Marine-derived nutrients from Pacific salmon (Onchorhycus spp.) can be transferred to streams and riparian forests through diverse food web pathways, fertilizing forests and increasing invertebrate abundance, which may in turn affect breeding birds.

Working constructively toward an improved North American approach to wildlife management.

Mawdsley et al. (2018) respond disapprovingly to our 2018 review of 667 wildlife management systems across Canada and the United States, which found that many of these systems lacked the scientific hallmarks of clear objectives, evidence, transparency, and independent review. Although we strongly agree with several of Mawdsley et al.

Oust the louse: leaping behaviour removes sea lice from wild juvenile sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka.

We conducted a manipulative field experiment to determine whether the leaping behaviour of wild juvenile sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka dislodges ectoparasitic sea lice Caligus clemensi and Lepeophtheirus salmonis by comparing sea-lice abundances between O. nerka juveniles prevented from leaping and juveniles allowed to leap at a natural frequency. Juvenile O.

Hallmarks of science missing from North American wildlife management.

Resource management agencies commonly defend controversial policy by claiming adherence to science-based approaches. For example, proponents and practitioners of the "North American Model of Wildlife Conservation," which guides hunting policy across much of the United States and Canada, assert that science plays a central role in shaping policy. However, what that means is rarely defined.

Effects of habitat features on size-biased predation on salmon by bears.

Predators can drive trait divergence among populations of prey by imposing differential selection on prey traits. Habitat characteristics can mediate predator selectivity by providing refuge for prey. We quantified the effects of stream characteristics on biases in the sizes of spawning salmon caught by bears (Ursus arctos and U.

Sneaker Males Affect Fighter Male Body Size and Sexual Size Dimorphism in Salmon.

Large male body size is typically favored by directional sexual selection through competition for mates. However, alternative male life-history phenotypes, such as "sneakers," should decrease the strength of sexual selection acting on body size of large "fighter" males. We tested this prediction with salmon species; in southern populations, where sneakers are common, fighter males should be smaller than in northern populations, where sneakers are rare, leading to geographical clines in sexual size dimorphism (SSD).

Ecology of conflict: marine food supply affects human-wildlife interactions on land.

Human-wildlife conflicts impose considerable costs to people and wildlife worldwide. Most research focuses on proximate causes, offering limited generalizable understanding of ultimate drivers. We tested three competing hypotheses (problem individuals, regional population saturation, limited food supply) that relate to underlying processes of human-grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) conflict, using data from British Columbia, Canada, between 1960-2014.

Costs of reproduction can explain the correlated evolution of semelparity and egg size: theory and a test with salmon.

Species' life history traits, including maturation age, number of reproductive bouts, offspring size and number, reflect adaptations to diverse biotic and abiotic selection pressures. A striking example of divergent life histories is the evolution of either iteroparity (breeding multiple times) or semelparity (breed once and die). We analysed published data on salmonid fishes and found that semelparous species produce larger eggs, that egg size and number increase with salmonid body size among populations and species and that migratory behaviour and parity interact.

Salmon nutrients are associated with the phylogenetic dispersion of riparian flowering-plant assemblages.

A signature of nonrandom phylogenetic community structure has been interpreted as indicating community assembly processes. Significant clustering within the phylogenetic structure of a community can be caused by habitat filtering due to low nutrient availability. Nutrient limitation in temperate Pacific coastal rainforests can be alleviated to some extent by marine nutrient subsidies introduced by migrating salmon, which leave a quantitative signature on the makeup of plant communities near spawning streams.

Ten principles from evolutionary ecology essential for effective marine conservation.

Sustainably managing marine species is crucial for the future health of the human population. Yet there are diverse perspectives concerning which species can be exploited sustainably, and how best to do so. Motivated by recent debates in the published literature over marine conservation challenges, we review ten principles connecting life-history traits, population growth rate, and density-dependent population regulation.

Effects of salmon-derived nutrients and habitat characteristics on population densities of stream-resident sculpins.

Movement of nutrients across ecosystem boundaries can have important effects on food webs and population dynamics. An example from the North Pacific Rim is the connection between productive marine ecosystems and freshwaters driven by annual spawning migrations of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp). While a growing body of research has highlighted the importance of both pulsed nutrient subsidies and disturbance by spawning salmon, their effects on population densities of vertebrate consumers have rarely been tested, especially across streams spanning a wide range of natural variation in salmon densities and habitat characteristics.