Early life history interactions of White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) with substrates and predaceous invertebrates
department or school: Forestry, Faculty of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Fisher, Jennifer
issued: 2023-12-21T18:21:52Z
issued: 2023
related degree: Master of Science - MSc
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) are from an ancient lineage and many of their populations are listed as endangered. Recruitment failure, a general term for a low or a lack of survival to sexual maturity, is the primary contributor to this endangerment. In the Nechako River of British Columbia, White Sturgeon embryos and yolk sac larvae are not surviving past their first month of life, despite successful spawning events taking place every year. Changes in benthic sediment composition because of flow regulation appear the likely cause of this lack of early life history success. However, it remains uncertain precisely in what way which these events have impacted these early life stages, and what the most important factors are for survival in the first month of life of White Sturgeon. Few studies have examined yolk sac larvae (YSL), and even fewer have studied embryos. No studies have thus far examined the interaction between predaceous stonefly nymphs and early life stage White Sturgeon, despite them being found in the same environments. I investigated how different substrate sizes act in conjunction with invertebrate predators to influence the early life history success of White Sturgeon embryos and larvae. I also tested how sand-coating impacts embryos. I discuss three experiments, each addressing different aspects of these interactions. I found no evidence that predatory stonefly nymphs consume White Sturgeon embryos, nor that their presence and sand coating are good predictors of embryo survival to hatch. However, I did find that there was a significant effect of invertebrate presence on hatch timing, shifting hatch timing slightly later. I found that the condition factor of YSL reared over sand was significantly lower than that of YSL reared over coarse gravel. However, substrate size did not influence the vulnerability of YSL to predation by predatory stonefly nymphs. I also found that substrate size had a significant impact on time to emergence for larv…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/86982
note: Early life history interactions of White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) with substrates and predaceous invertebrates by Jennifer Fisher B.Sc. (Hons), University of British Columbia, 2021 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Forestry) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) December 2023 © Jennifer Fisher, 2023 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the thesis entitled: Early life history interactions of White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) with substrates and predaceous invertebrates submitted by Jennifer Fisher in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Forestry Examining Committee: John Richardson, Professor Emeritus, Forestry, UBC Co-supervisor Steve McAdam, Adjunct Professor, Institute for Oceans and Fisheries, UBC Co-supervisor Brett Eaton, Professor, Geography, UBC Supervisory Committee Member Patricia Schulte, Professor, Zoology, UBC Additional Examiner iii Abstract White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) are from an ancient lineage and many of their populations are listed as endangered. Recruitment failure, a general term for a low or a lack of survival to sexual maturity, is the primary contributor to this endangerment. In the Nechako River of British Columbia, White Sturgeon embryos and yolk sac larvae are not surviving past their first month of life, despite successful spawning events taking place every year. Changes in benthic sediment composition because of flow regulation appear the likely cause of this lack of early life history success. However, it remains uncertain precisely in what way which these events have impacted these early life stages, and what the most important factors are for survival in the first month of life of White Sturgeon. Few studies have examined yolk sac larvae (YS…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2024-05
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0438324
language: eng
degree discipline: Forestry
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Richardson, John Stuart
contributor: McAdam, Steve
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/86982