Water Stewardship Information Sources
| ID | 1215 |
|---|---|
| Citation | Long, K. 2007. The effects of red site selection and red geometry on the survival of incubating Okanagan sockeye eggs. MSc Thesis. The University of New Brunswick. |
| Organization | ONA |
| URL | http://www.unb.ca/research/institutes/cri/_resources/downloads/Theses/LongMScThesis.pdf |
| Abstract/Description or Keywords | This study explores the spawning process of Okanagan sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka). Natural and channelized reaches supporting spawning sockeye were studied for suitability as spawning grounds. The scope of this work is two-fold. Firstly, hydraulic characteristics found at redd sites in spawning grounds were measured for depth, velocity, and two flow parameters, the Froude and Reynolds numbers. Only Froude numbers (Fr = 0.315 ﾱ 0.10) were found to be similar between the two reaches implicating this characteristic as selected for by spawning sockeye. The natural reach contained this range of Froude numbers in both years sampled, where the channelized reach contained this range during lower than average discharge. Secondly, flow through the redd was studied for its impact on egg survival using the redd steepness and the composition of the bed materials as factors that affect the terms in Darcy's Law of groundwater flow. Redds with either higher fine sediment accumulations or less steep redds were found to support lower rates of egg survival. In the channelized reach where fine sediment accumulations were higher, salmon may need to build larger redds, which may be costly to the fish in terms of energy reserved for the task in these the final stages of their life cycle. Moving away from a homogeneous environment will increase likelihood of preferred spawning and incubation flows therefore improving egg (and species) survival. |
| Information Type | thesis |
| Regional Watershed | Okanagan |
| Sub-watershed if known | Okanagan River |
| Aquifer # | |
| Comments | |
| Project status | complete |
| Contact Name | Karilyn Alex |
| Contact Email | [email protected] |