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Peter S. Rand

Publications and source records attributed to Peter S. Rand.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2022

Premature mortality observations among Alaska’s Pacific salmon during record heat and drought in 2019

Widespread mortality of Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. returning to spawn in Alaska coincided with record-breaking air temperatures and prolonged drought in summer 2019. Extreme environmental conditions are expected to happen more frequently with rapid climate change and challenge the notion that Alaska could indefinitely provide abundant, cool freshwater habitat for Pacific salmon. A total of 110 geographically widespread opportunistic observations of premature mortality (carcasses) were collected from a variety of sources. Premature mortalities were documented for Pink Salmon Oncorhynchus gorbuscha , Sockeye Salmon O. nerka , Chum Salmon O. keta , Chinook Salmon O. tshawytscha , and Coho Salmon O. kisutch . Additionally, observations of Pink Salmon returning to spawn in Prince William Sound streams in 2019, obtained from systematic aerial surveys conducted annually, revealed low migration success in 87% of rain-driven streams ( n = 30), 52% of snow-driven streams ( n = 65), and only 18% of glacier-driven streams ( n = 11). Salmon mortality observations were consistent with death due to heat stress resulting from high water temperatures or drought caused hypoxia and stranding. Developing a better understanding of how broad-scale climate patterns manifest at the stream scale can help us determine whether a major shift in Pacific salmon productivity is underway and inform fisheries management plans to better mitigate future risks.

Alaska↗
USGS1995

Effect of lake-wide planktivory by the pelagic prey fish community in Lakes Michigan and Ontario

We compared predatory demand by pelagic planktivorous prey fish with invertebrate production in Lake Michigan during 1987 and in Lake Ontario during 1990. Predation by the planktivores in Lake Ontario was nearly fourfold higher than in Lake Michigan (approx. 87 g wet weight∙m −2 ∙year −1 ). Predation rates on Mysis were comparable in Lakes Michigan and Ontario (approx. 21 g∙m −2 ∙year −1 ), while predation on Diporeia was markedly higher in Lake Michigan than in Lake Ontario (21.3 vs. 8.5 g wet weight∙m −2 ∙year −1 ). In Lake Ontario, predatory demand on zooplankton exceeded our best estimate of production by a factor of 1.7. Similarly, predation estimates on Mysis in Lake Ontario were 1.2–2.0 times the estimated rate of production, depending on the production model used. Lake Michigan planktivores consumed approximately 55% of available zooplankton production in 1987, indicating that competition for prey resources, if operating, was not as intense as that in Lake Ontario in 1990. It is unclear how to resolve the paradox that predation could markedly exceed available prey production in some cases. There could be sources of error in the estimates of both the supply and demand sides of these trophic relationships.

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences↗
USGS1994

Why are the PCB concentrations of salmonine individuals from the same lake so highly variable?

An individual-based model (IBM) was applied to the Lake Michigan rainbow trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss ) population, with the objectives of explaining the observed variation in growth and in polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentration within the population. When variation in prey PCB concentration was incorporated into the model, variability in PCB concentration among individual rainbow trout was fully explained by the IBM. Although number of spawnings and number of years spent in a stream prior to first entering the lake were factors in determining growth, these life history characteristics appeared to have only a minor impact on PCB accumulation rate in rainbow trout. The IBM application to the rainbow trout population was compared with an application to the Lake Michigan lake trout ( Salvelinus namaycush ) population. Modeling results indicated that the lower observed PCB concentrations in rainbow trout compared with lake trout were chiefly due to greater longevity in lake trout. The IBM simulations identified gross growth efficiency, assimilation efficiency of PCBs from food, and diet as other important sources of variability in salmonine PCB concentrations.

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences↗
USGS1994

Energy density and size of pelagic prey fishes in Lake Ontario, 1978-1990: Implications for salmonine energetics

We describe dynamics of energy density and size of Lake Ontario alewife Alosa pseudoharengus and rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax , and we use a bioenergetics model of a common pelagic piscivore, chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha , to demonstrate the effect of these factors on piscivore daily ration during 1978–1990. The energy density of alewives varied more than twofold between peaks in September (age 1) or October–November (age ≥2) and the lows in May (age 1) or July–September (age≥2). The previously described seasonal pattern of energy density of Lake Michigan alewives was similar except that energy density of older alewives (age≥3) was markedly higher in Lake Michigan. During 1978–1990, the spring energy density of Lake Ontario alewives peaked in 1979 (6,259 J/g wet weight), declined irregularly until 1985, and then remained stable through 1990 (at approximately 4,600 J/g). The initial decline may have been a density-dependent response to a burgeoning alewife population, but the lack of an increase in alewife condition in the late 1980s, when alewife biomass fell, suggests a decline in lake productivity. Energy density of rainbow smelt increased with age in Lake Ontario and condition was invariant during 1978–1990 despite a threefold change in rainbow smelt biomass. Rainbow smelt energy density was lower and fluctuated less seasonally in Lake Ontario than in Lake Michigan. Mean weight of alewives aged 2 and older dropped from 41 g in 1978 to 19 g in 1989 in Lake Ontario. Rainbow smelt aged 2 and older showed a drop in mean weight from 13–17 g in 1978–1982 to 8 g in 1990. This downward trend in mean size of alewives was correlated with the sizes of alewives consumed by Lake Ontario chinook salmon during 1983–1987. For adult chinook salmon to maintain a constant growth rate during 1978–1990, mean individual daily ration during June–October had to increase from a low of 2.2% body weight/d (or 1.5 prey fish/d) in 1979 to 3.1% body weight/d (3.7 prey fish/d) in 1988. This increase in forage demand may have caused the observed declines in individual condition of salmonines over this period.

Transactions of the American Fisheries Society↗