Thermal constraints on stream consumer responses to a marine resource subsidy

Abstract

Spawning migrations of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) to coastal watersheds provide a rich resource subsidy to freshwater consumers. However, variation in thermal regimes and spawning activity across the landscape constrain the ability of poikilothermic consumers to assimilate eggs and carcasses. We investigated how sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) spawning density and stream temperature affect the growth, body condition, and fatty acid composition of juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), a known egg predator, in seven tributaries of the Wood River in Southwest Alaska. We compared mean body size of juvenile coho salmon in late summer among 3–7 years per stream and found that the largest mean size occurred in warm streams in which sockeye salmon spawned, although overall subsidy magnitude (spawner density) had no effect on consumer body size. Individuals that consumed more salmon eggs (estimated from δ15N) were larger and had altered fatty acid composition but did not have higher relative body condition. These results indicate that effects of marine subsidies on freshwater consumers depend both on local habitat conditions and on individual variation in energy allocation.