Effects of Forest Harvesting on Spawning Gravel and Incubation Survival of Chum (Oncorhynchus keta) and Coho Salmon (O. kisutch) in Carnation Creek, British Columbia

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Abstract
Following logging, pea gravel and sand (i.e. fines) in the stream bed of Carnation Creek, British Columbia increased 4.6 and 5.7%, respectively. The quantity of fines was greater in the bottom layer, while the frequency and magnitude of changes in composition were greater in the top layer of streambed cores. Changes in streambed fines depended on the timing and type of streamside logging and on the timing of large freshets. Accumulating fines appeared to originate from erosion of streambanks or from upstream storage areas and they were transported as bedload. Suspended sediment (11.4-44.5 t .cntdot. km-2 .cntdot. yr-1) did not increase after road construction or logging. Deposition and scour rates of pea gravel and sand in the streambed were inversely related to particle size, and to their depth in the bed. Following logging, survival to emergence declined from 29.1 to 16.4% for coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and from 22.2 to 11.5% for chum salmon (O. keta). Annual mean survival to emergence and size of fry of both species were positively related to two indices of substrate composition. Annual changes in substrate composition and peak flows explained 60 and 73% of the variability in survival to emergence for chum and coho salmon, respectively.

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