Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation
 

Caspian tern (Hydroprogne caspia) foraging ecology and predation on juvenile salmonids in San Francisco Bay, California

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  • Brooks Island, located in central San Francisco Bay, California, currently supports the largest breeding colony of Caspian terns (Hydroprogne caspia) in the Bay Area, and is one of several proposed relocation sites for some Caspian terns from the world's largest colony in the Columbia River estuary of Oregon. Juvenile salmonids have been identified in the diet of Caspian terns nesting at Brooks Island, so I investigated whether the colony, at its current or an enhanced size, poses a threat to the recovery of several runs of salmonids (Oncorhynchus spp.) in San Francisco Bay that are listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA). I also examined the foraging ecology of Brooks Island Caspian terns to 1) determine whether the colony is suitable for expansion based on availability of forage fish resources, a factor potentially limiting the size and productivity of the colony, and 2) investigate how Caspian terns nesting at this colony exploit forage fish resources. I used a bioenergetics modeling approach, employing estimates of tern energy requirements and proportions of energy supplied by various prey types, to estimate consumption of juvenile salmonids by Caspian terns nesting on Brooks Island during 2008 and 2009. Estimated salmonid consumption was 205,000 smolts (95% CI: 175,000 – 245,000 smolts) in 2008 and 167,000 smolts (95% CI: 144,000 – 191,000 smolts) in 2009. Predation rates on ESA-listed Central Valley spring-run Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha; 0.08%) were lower than those on unlisted fall-run Chinook salmon (1.0%). Average per capita predation rates on juvenile salmonids by Brooks Island Caspian terns (2008: 126 fish; 2009: 123 fish) were less than half those of Caspian terns nesting in the Columbia River estuary. If the current downward trend in the number of Caspian terns nesting on Brooks Island continues until the colony is no longer extant, the resulting declines in predation on salmonids would lead to increases in annual population growth rates (Δλ) of salmonid runs of just small fractions of one percentage point. The proposed enhancement of the Brooks Island Caspian tern colony to 3,000 individuals would at most cause declines in annual population growth rates of 0.3% for fall-run Chinook salmon and 0.02% for threatened spring-run Chinook salmon, assuming that smolt mortality from tern predation is 100% additive. This level of impact to the ESA-listed spring-run Chinook salmon stock is less than the level considered acceptable by the National Marine Fisheries Service (Δλ = 0.05%). Radio-tracking of Caspian terns nesting on Brooks Island revealed that the maximum foraging distance from the colony was 80 km. The median foraging distance from the colony was greater in 2009 compared to 2008 (20.6 km vs. 14.0 km), average number of foraging trips per day was higher (4.4 vs. 3.4 foraging trips), and average adult colony attendance was lower (43% vs. 52% of daylight hours). These results indicate that the colony was more food-limited during the 2009 breeding season, concurrent with anomalous downwelling along the coast of northern California and reduced availability and size of marine forage fishes, such as herring, sardines, and anchovies. Caspian terns used a number of core foraging areas within 30 km of the Brooks Island colony, both inside and just outside the Bay. Two large core foraging areas were close to or overlapped with the release site for juvenile salmonids in eastern San Pablo Bay, where > 10 million hatchery-raised smolts were released from net pens during both the 2008 and 2009 tern nesting seasons. This finding supports the hypothesis that most juvenile salmonids consumed by terns nesting at the Brooks Island colony were captured at or near the release site. Individual Caspian terns displayed foraging site fidelity, suggesting that foraging at the release site for hatchery-raised salmonids was a learned behavior by some terns. The Brooks Island colony site is within foraging distance of adequate marine forage fish resources in most years, and Caspian terns nesting there are not dependent on juvenile salmonids as a food resource. Consumption of juvenile salmonids by Brooks Island terns would be largely curtailed by modification of hatchery release practices.
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