Chinook Salmon Case Study

RESULTS
Stable carbon isotope ratios and growth rates of juvenile Chinook salmon
Stable carbon isotope ratios of aquatic and terrestrial plants for all years and locations indicated overlap of isotopic signatures (Figure 3). The slopes of the linear regression models between fork lengths of juvenile Chinook salmon and their stable carbon isotope ratios were not significant in 7 out of 9 cases. In 2011, juvenile Chinook salmon signatures did not change as a function of fish fork length, but in 2012 and 2013 they did only at Gallo’s property, but not at the Merced River Ranch and Robinson’s restoration reach (Table 2). In 2011, mean daily growth rates in terms of differences of fork length (weight) from May 4 to June 3 were: 0.238 mm/day (0.046 g/day), 0.477 mm/day (0.109 g/day), and 0.436 mm/day (0.091 g/day) at the

In 2012, mean daily growth rates in terms of differences of fork length (weight) from March 28 to April 26 were: 0.278 mm/day (0.048 g/day), 0.408 mm/day (0.078 g/day), 0.255 mm/day (0.048 g/day), and 0.293 mm/day (0.048 g/day) at the Merced River Ranch, Robinson’s restoration reach, Gallo’s property, and Livingston’s scout camp, respectively. In 2013, mean daily growth rates in terms of differences of fork length (weight) from March 18 to April 15 were: 0.474 mm/day (0.074 g/day), 0.497 mm/day (0.077 g/day), and 0.204 mm/day (0.025 g/day) at the Merced River Ranch, Robinson’s restoration reach, and Gallo’s property, respectively (Figure 4). In 2011, mean daily growth rates of juvenile Chinook salmon inside enclosures were higher at