PARENT SESSION
Oral Session #29: Spatial Ecology and Disturbance Ecology.
Presiding: J. Ludwig
Tuesday, August 6. 8:00 AM to 11:30 AM. Coconino Meeting Room, TCC.
Multi-Species Framework: Coordinating theory, models and lexicon across spatial scales and between fish and wildlife in the Columbia River basin.
Whitney, Paul*,1, Marcot, Bruce2, Paquet, Peter3, McConnaha, Chip4, Mobrand, Lars5, 1 Jones & Stokes, Portland, OR2 USDA Forest Service3 Northwest Power Planning Councial, Portland, OR4 Northwest Power Planning Council, Portland, OR5 Mobrand Biometrics
ABSTRACT- The Multi-species Framework is a hierarchical approach to fish and wildlife recovery in the Columbia Basin. Biologists developed a theory and lexicon to evaluate populations and ecosystem function in historic, current and future times. Three alternatives: dam removal, system-wide habitat enhancement and main-stem river enhancement were evaluated for the basin and eleven provinces. Attributes to assess the influence of alternatives in the basin and provinces include empirical data, modeled data and expert opinion. The next step in the Framework is collecting data to evaluate fish, wildlife and ecosystem function within subbasins of each province. These data will be used to validate the broader-scale basin analyses. Federal, state and tribal agencies have and continue to align with the Framework to address their various mandates. Species models to assess the influence of alternatives share a common population biology theory that link fish and wildlife population analyses and provide translations of habitat variables to population productivity, capacity, and abundance. Fish population results quantify historic losses and indicate the dam removal alternative is likely to produce more fish than habitat improvement alternatives. Wildlife population analyses indicate that alternatives to enhance fish populations could have unanticipated site-specific negative influences on threatened species. Ecosystem function analyses indicate areas in the basin where hypothesized historic levels of functional diversity and functional redundancy have been lost or reduced and where alternative management plans might conserve or restore functions.
KEY WORDS: ecosystem function, fish and wildlife recovery, spatial scale, Columbia River Basin