Response of Juvenile Coho Salmon and Steelhead to Placement of Large Woody Debris in a Coastal Washington Stream

Abstract

Abstract Many fish habitats have been altered in Pacific Northwest streams and rivers over the past century by a variety of land use practices, including forestry, urbanization, agriculture, and channelization. There are research and management needs for evaluation of the effectiveness of rehabilitation projects intended to enhance stream fish habitat recovery. The response of populations of juvenile coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch and steelhead O. mykiss to addition of large woody debris (LWD) was tested in North Fork Porter Creek (NFPC), a small coastal tributary of the Chehalis River, Washington. The NFPC was divided into three 500-m study sections; two sections were altered with two approaches (engineered and logger's choice) to adding LWD, and the third was kept as a reference site. Immediately after LWD addition, the abundance of LWD pieces was 7.9 times greater than the pretreatment level in the engineered site and 2.7 times greater in the logger's choice site; abundance was unchanged in the refer...