Project Title

A Spatial Analysis of Urban Landscape Patterns Associated with Pre-Spawn Mortality in Coho Salmon Populations

Description

The objective of this project is to determine which aspects (i.e., roads, impervious surface, etc.) of the urban environment are most closely associated with pre-spawn mortality events of coho salmon at various locations in Puget Sound. In addition, the project seeks to quantify the interaction between climate and the aforementioned aspects.

We are using existing geospatial datalayers of hypothesized urban attributes that are associated with coho pre-spawn mortality events. These include roads (width, type, and traffic density), impervious surfaces (building rooftops, lawns, driveways, roads, etc.), and the urban drainage infrastructure (natural catchment, sewer and stormwater drainage networks, etc.). We have over two years of coho pre-spawn mortality data from five different watersheds in King and Pierce County.

Investigators

Nat Scholz and Blake Feist

Collaborators

Jay Davies (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), many others.

Support

USGS, USFWS, WADFW, others

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