Abstract
Green Sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris) and White Sturgeon (A. transmontanus) are closely related species inhabiting the San Francisco Estuary (SFE) and Sacramento River. Both spawn in the Sacramento River. White Sturgeon typically remain within SFE throughout their lives while subadult and adult Green Sturgeon make marine migrations. These broad-scale patterns are known. However, the reach-specific timing of spawning migrations is not, and little is known about seasonal movements of juveniles and subadults. We tagged 41 Green and 160 White Sturgeon with acoustic transmitters (2010–2012). Analyses also included 167 previously tagged sturgeon. Over 300 receivers deployed throughout the Sacramento River, SFE, and nearshore Pacific Coast detected movements. Adult Green Sturgeon moved quickly though SFE to their spawning reach, using the mainstem through the Delta. 5% of spawning Green Sturgeon remained on the spawning reach for over 300 days. White Sturgeon spent significantly less time in their spawning reach before exiting (32 ± 48.2 days vs. 197 ± 97.3 days) and instead selected northern Delta sloughs over the mainstem for pre-spawning migrations. Even at earlier life stages, Green Sturgeon had more marine distributions than White Sturgeon. Juveniles and subadults of both species moved between the San Francisco Bay and Delta throughout the year, but only White Sturgeon overwintered in the Delta. Additionally, we refine several life history parameters for sturgeon in California. We provide a comprehensive characterization of Green and White Sturgeon movements within the SFE and Sacramento River across life stages. These analyses will inform reach-specific management of each species.
Similar content being viewed by others
Change history
14 July 2020
Due to an oversight by the Publisher during the typesetting stage, the Fig. 8 has been omitted from the pdf version and is now presented in this article.
References
Adams PB, Grimes C, Hightower JE, Lindley ST, Moser ML, Parsley MJ (2007) Population status of North American Green Sturgeon, Acipenser medirostris. Environ Biol Fish 79(3–4):339–356
Allen PJ, Hobbs JA, Cech JJ Jr, Van Eenennaam JP, Doroshov SI (2009) Using trace elements in pectoral fin rays to assess life history movements in sturgeon : estimating age at initial seawater entry in Klamath River Green Sturgeon. Trans Am Fish Soc 138(2):240–250
Attrill MJ, Power M (2004) Partitioning of temperature resources amongst an estuarine fish assemblage. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 61(4):725–738
Beamesderfer RC (1993) A standard weight (Ws) equation for white sturgeon. Calif Fish Game 79(2):63–69
Beamesderfer RC, Nigro AA (1993) Status and habitat requirements of the white sturgeon populations in the Columbia River downstream from McNary Dam. Vol 1. Final Report to Bonneville Power Administration, Portland, OR
Beamesderfer RCP, Simpson ML, Kopp GJ (2007) Use of life history information in a population model for Sacramento green sturgeon. Environ Biol Fish 79:315–337
Bemis WE, Kynard B (1997) Sturgeon rivers: an introduction to acipenseriform biogeography and life. Environ Biol Fish 48:167–183
Bennett WR, Edmondson G, Lane ED, Morgan J (2005) Juvenile white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) habitat and distribution in the lower Fraser River, downstream of Hope, BC, Canada. J Appl Ichthyol 21:375–380
Benson RL, Turo S, McCovey BW Jr (2007) Migration and movement patterns of green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris) in the Klamath and trinity rivers, California, USA. Environ Biol Fish 79:269–279
Billard R, Lecointre G (2001) Biology and conservation of sturgeon and paddlefish. Rev Fish Biol Fish 10:355–392
Boysen KA, Hoover JJ (2009) Swimming performance of juvenile white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus): training and the probability of entrainment due to dredging. J Appl Ichthyol 25:54–59
Brown K (2007) Evidence of spawning by green sturgeon, Acipenser medirostris, in the upper Sacramento River, California. Environ Biol Fish 79(3):297–303
Brown JR, Beckenbach K, Beckenbach AT, Smith MJ (1996) Length variation, heteroplasmy and sequence divergence in the mitochondrial DNA of four species of sturgeon (Acipenser). Genetics 142:525–535
Chapman FA, Van Eenennaam JP, Doroshov SI (1996) The reproductive condition of white sturgeon, Acipenser transmontanus, in San Francisco Bay, California. Fish Bull 94:628–634
DeVore J, James B, Beamesderfer R (1999) Lower Columbia river white sturgeon current stock status and management implications. Washington and Oregon Departments of Fish and Wildlife
Diffenbaugh NS, Swain DL, Touma D (2015) Anthropogenic warming has increased drought risk in California. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 112(13):3931–3936
Dubois J (2013) 2012 Sturgeon Fishing Report Card : preliminary data report. California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Stockton, CA
Dubois J, Danos A (2017) 2016 Sturgeon Fishing Report Card : preliminary data report. California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Stockton, CA
DuBois J, Gingras M (2011) Using harvest rate and harvest to estimate white sturgeon abundance. IEP Newslett 24(3):23–26
Dubois J, Harris MD (2015) 2014 Sturgeon Fishing Report Card : preliminary data report. California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Stockton, CA
Dubois J, Harris MD (2016) 2015 Sturgeon Fishing Report Card : preliminary data report. California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Stockton, CA
DuBois J, Gingras M, Aasen G (2011) Status and trends of San Francisco estuary white sturgeon. IEP Newslett 24(1):50–55
Dubois J, Maccoll T, Haydt E (2012) 2011 Sturgeon Fishing Report Card : preliminary data report. California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Stockton, CA
Dubois J, Harris MD, Mauldin J (2014) 2013 Sturgeon Fishing Report Card : preliminary data report. California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Stockton, CA
Erickson DL, Webb MAH (2007) Spawning periodicity, spawning migration, and size at maturity of green sturgeon, Acipenser medirostris, in the Rogue River, Oregon. Environ Biol Fish 79:255–268
Erickson DL, North JA, Hightower JE, Weber J, Lauck L (2002) Movement and habitat use of green sturgeon Acipenser medirostris in the Rogue River, Oregon, USA. J Appl Ichthyol 18:565–569
ESRI (2016) ArcGis desktop: release 10.3. Environmental Systems Research Institute, Redlands, CA
Feyrer F, Slater SB, Portz DE, Odom D, Morgan-King T, Brown LR (2017) Pelagic nekton abundance and distribution in the northern Sacramento – San Joaquin Delta, California. Trans Am Fish Soc 146(1):128–135
Hardin G (1960) The competitive exclusion principle. Science 131(3409):1292–1297
Hare JA, Morrison WE, Nelson MW, Stachura MM, Teeters EJ, Griffis RB, Alexander MA, Scott JD, Alade L, Bell RJ, Chute AS, Curti KL, Curtis TH, Kircheis D, Kocik JF, Lucey SM, McCandless CT, Milke LM, Richardson DE, Robillard E, Walsh HJ, Mcmanus MC, Marancik KE, Griswold CA (2016) A vulnerability assessment of fish and invertebrates to climate change on the northeast U.S. continental shelf. PLoS One 11(2):1–30
Harrell WC, Sommer TR (2003) Patterns of adult fish use on California’s Yolo bypass floodplain. In: Faber PM (ed) California riparian systems: processes and floodplain managment, ecology and restoration. 2001 Riparian Habitat and Floodplains Conference Proceedings, Sacramento, CA, pp 88–93
Hengl T, Roudier P, Beaudette DE, Pebesma E (2015) plotKML: scientific visualization of spatio-temporal data. J Stat Softw 63(5):1–25
Heublein JC, Kelly JT, Crocker CE, Klimley AP, Lindley ST (2009) Migration of green sturgeon, Acipenser medirostris, in the Sacramento River. Environ Biol Fish 84:245–258
Hickey BM, Banas NS (2003) Oceanography of the U.S. Pacific northwest Coastal Ocean and estuaries with application to coastal ecology. Estuaries 26(4B):1010–1031
Israel JA, Cordes JF, Blumberg MA, May B (2004) Geographic patterns of genetic differentiation among collections of green sturgeon. N Am J Fish Manag 24:922–931
Jackson ZJ, Van Eenennaam JP (2013) 2012 San Joaquin River sturgeon spawning survey. Stockton Fish and Wildlife Office, Anadromous Fish Restoration Program, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Lodi, California
Jeffres CA, Opperman JJ, Moyle PB (2008) Ephemeral floodplain habitats provide best growth conditions for juvenile Chinook salmon in a California river. Environ Biol Fish 83:449–458
Kimmerer WJ (2002) Physical, biological, and management responses to variable freshwater flow into the San Francisco estuary. Estuaries 25(6):1275–1290
Kohlhorst DW (1976) Sturgeon spawning in the Sacramento River in 1973, as determined by distribution of larvae. Calif Fish Game 62(1):32–40
Kohlhorst DW, Cech Jr. JJ (2001) White Sturgeon. In: Leet WS, Dewees CM, Klingbeil R, Larson EJ (eds) California’s living marine resources: A Status Report. California Department of Fish and Game. Publication SG01–11, p 467–469
Kohlhorst DW, Botsford LW, Brennan JS, Cailliet GM (1991) Aspects of the structure and dynamics of an exploited Central California population of white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus), pages 277–293 In: Williot P (ed) Acipenser. Cemagref Publishers, Bordeaux, France
Lane ED (1991) Status of the white sturgeon, Acipenser transmontanus, in Canada. Can Field-Nat 105(2):161–168
Lindley ST, Moser ML, Erickson DL, Belchik M, Welch DW, Rechisky EL, Kelly JT, Heublein J, Klimley AP (2008) Marine migration of North American green sturgeon. Trans Am Fish Soc 137(1):182–194
Lindley ST, Erickson DL, Moser ML, Williams G, Langness OP, Jr BWM, Belchik M, Vogel D, Kelly JT, Heublein JC, Klimley AP (2011) Electronic tagging of green sturgeon reveals population structure and movement among estuaries. Trans Am Fish Soc 140:108–122
Matthews WJ, Hill LG (1980) Habitat partitioning in the fish community of a southwestern river. Southwest Nat 25(1):51–66
McCabe GT Jr, Tracy CA (1994) Spawning and early life history of white sturgeon, Acipenser transmontanus, in the lower Columbia River. U.S. Fish Bulletin 92:760–772
Miller LW (1972) Migrations of sturgeon tagged in the Sacramento-San Joaquin estuary. Calif Fish Game 58(2):102–106
Miller EA, Froehlich HE, Cocherell DE, Thomas MJ, Jr JJC, Klimley AP, Fangue NA (2014) Effects of acoustic tagging on juvenile green sturgeon incision healing, swimming performance, and growth. Environ Biol Fish 97:647–658
Mora EA, Battleson RD, Lindley ST, Thomas MJ, Bellmer R, Zarri LJ, Klimley AP (2018) Estimating the annual spawning run size and population size of the southern distinct population segment of green sturgeon. Trans Am Fish Soc 147(January):195–203
Moser ML, Lindley ST (2007) Use of Washington estuaries by subadult and adult green sturgeon. Environ Biol Fish 79:243–253
Moser ML, Israel JA, Neuman M, Lindley ST, Erickson DL, McCovey BW Jr, Klimley AP (2016) Biology and life history of Green Sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris Ayres, 1854): state of the science. J Appl Ichthyol 32:67–86
Moyle PB (2002a) Inland fishes of California. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles
Moyle PB (2002b) Inland fishes of California. University of California Press, Berkeley, California
Moyle PB, Yoshiyama RM, Williams JE, Wikramanayake ED (1995) Fish species of special concern in California, 2nd edn. California Department of Fish and Game
Munday PL, Jones GP, Caley MJ (2001) Interspecific competition and coexistence in a guild of coral-dwelling fishes. Ecology 82(8):2177–2189
Nakamoto RJ, Kisanuki TT, Goldsmith GH (1995) Age and growth of Klamath River green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris). U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Report 93-FP-13, Yreka, California
Null SE, Viers JH (2013) In bad waters : water year classification in nonstationary climates. Water Resour Res 49:1137–1148
Parsley MJ, Popoff ND, Wright CD, van der Leeuw BK (2008) Seasonal and diel movements of White Sturgeon in the lower Columbia River. Trans Am Fish Soc 137(4):1007–1017
Pebesma EJ (2012) Spatio-temporal data in R. J Stat Softw 51(7)
Pebesma EJ, Bivand RS (2005) Classes and methods for spatial data in R. R News 5(2)
Perrin CJ, Rempel LL, Rosenau ML (2003) White Sturgeon spawning habitat in an unregulated river: Fraser River, Canada. Trans Am Fish Soc 132(1):154–165
Poletto JB, Cocherell DE, Klimley AP, Cech JJ Jr (2013) Behavioural salinity preferences of juvenile green sturgeon Acipenser medirostris acclimated to fresh water and full-strength salt water. J Fish Biol 82:671–685
Poletto JB, Cocherell DE, Ho N, Cech JJ Jr, Klimley AP, Fangue NA (2014) Juvenile green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris) and white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) behavior near water-diversion fish screens: experiments in a laboratory swimming flum. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 71:1030–1038
Poytress WR, Gruber JJ, Van Eenennaam JP (2012) 2011 upper Sacramento River green sturgeon spawning habitat and larval migration surveys. Annual Report of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Red Bluff, CA
Poytress WR, Gruber JJ, Van Eenennaam JP, Gard M (2015) Spatial and temporal distribution of spawning events and habitat characteristics of Sacramento River green sturgeon. Trans Am Fish Soc 144(6):1129–1142
R Core Team (2018) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. https://www.R-project.org/
Radtke LD (1966) Distribution of smelt, juvenile sturgeon, and starry flounder in the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta with observations on food of sturgeon. In: Turner JL, Kelley DW (eds) Ecological studies of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, Part II: Fishes of the Delta, California Fish and Game Bulletin 136, pp 115–129
Robichaud D, English KK, Nelson TC (2017) Annual movements of acoustic-tagged White Sturgeon in the lower reaches of the Fraser River and its tributaries. Trans Am Fish Soc 146(4):611–625
Saino N, Ambrosini R, Rubolini D, Von J, Provenzale A, Hu K, Lehikoinen A, Lehikoinen E, Rainio K, Romano M, Sokolov L, Biologia D, Scienza P (2011) Climate warming, ecological mismatch at arrival and population decline in migratory birds. Proc R Soc B 278:835–842
Schaffter RG (1997) White sturgeon spawning migrations and locations of spawning habitat in the Sacramento River, California. Calif Fish Game 83(1):1–20
Schlosser IJ, Toth LA (1984) Niche relationships and population ecology of rainbow (Etheostoma caeruleum) and faintail (E. flabellare) darters in a temporally variable environment. Oikos 42(2):229–238
Schreier AD, Mahardja B, May B (2013) Patterns of population structure vary across the range of the white sturgeon. Trans Am Fish Soc 142(5):1273–1286
Schreier A, Langness OP, Israel JA, Van Dyke E (2016) Further investigation of green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris) distinct population segment composition in non-natal estuaries and preliminary evidence of Columbia River spawning. Environ Biol Fish 99:1021–1032
Seesholtz AM, Manuel MJ, Van Eenennaam JP (2015) First documented spawning and associated habitat conditions for green sturgeon in the Feather River, California. Environ Biol Fish 98(3):905–912
Singer MB (2007) The influence of major dams on hydrology through the drainage network of the Sacramento River basin, California. River Res Appl 23:55–72
Sommer T, Harrell B, Nobriga M, Brown R, Moyle P, Kimmerer W, Schemel L (2001) California’s Yolo bypass: evidence that flood control can be compatible with fisheries, wetlands, wildlife, and agriculture. Fisheries 26(8):6–16
Sommer T, Harrell W, Nobriga M, Kurth R (2003) Floodplain as habitat for native fish: lessons from California’s Yolo Bypass. In: Faber PM (ed) California riparian systems: processes and floodplain managment, ecology and restoration. 2001 Riparian Habitat and Floodplains Conference Proceedings. Sacramento, CA, pp 81–87
Stewart AR, Luoma SN, Schlekat CE, Doblin MA, Hieb KA (2004) Food web pathway determines how selenium affects aquatic ecosystems: a San Francisco Bay case study. Environ Sci Technol 38(17):4519–4526
Thomas MJ, Peterson ML, Friedenberg N, Van Eenennaam JP, Johnson JR, Hoover JJ, Klimley AP (2013) Stranding of spawning run Green Sturgeon in the Sacramento River: post-rescue movements and potential population-level effects. N Am J Fish Manag 33(2):287–297
Thomas MJ, Peterson ML, Chapman ED, Hearn AR, Klimley AP (2014) Behavior, movements, and habitat use of adult green sturgeon, Acipenser medirostris, in the upper Sacramento River. Environ Biol Fish 97:133–146
USGS (2013) USGS Gage #11342000 on the Sacramento River at Delta, CA. National Water Information System data available on the World Wide Web (USGS Water Data for the Nation). http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/
Van Eenennaam JP, Linares J, Doroshov SI, Hillemeier DC, Willson TE, Nova AA (2006) Reproductive conditions of the Klamath River green sturgeon. Trans Am Fish Soc 135(1):151–163
Veinott G, Northcote T, Rosenau M, Evans RD (1999) Concentrations of strontium in the pectoral fin rays of the white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) by laser ablation sampling – inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry as an indicator of marine migrations. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 56:1981–1990
Welch DW, Turo S, Batten SD (2006) Large-scale marine and freshwater movements of white sturgeon. Trans Am Fish Soc 135:140–143
Winemiller KO (1989) Ontogenetic diet shifts and resource partitioning among piscivorous fishes in the Venezuelan ilanos. Environ Biol Fish 26(3):177–199
Wyman MT, Thomas MJ, McDonald R, Hearn A, Battleson R, Chapman E, Kinzel P, Minear J, Mora E, Nelson J, Pagel M, Klimley AP (2018) Fine-scale habitat preference of green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris) within three spawning locations in the Sacramento River, California. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 75(5):779–791
Zeug SC, Brodsky A, Kogut N, Stewart AR, Merz JE (2014) Ancient fish and recent invaders: white sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus diet response to invasive- species-mediated changes in a benthic prey assemblage. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 514:163–174
Acknowledgements
This study was funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Joel Van Eenennaam, Robert Kaufman, Ethan Mora, Anna Steel, Jamilynn Poletto, Tommy Agousta, Matt Pagel, Talene Baghdassarian, Brian Jack, and Garret Leidy from UC Davis provided field, lab, and database assistance and training. California Department of Fish and Wildlife and NOAA Fisheries assisted with permitting. CDFW enabled our team to tag sturgeon during their annual sturgeon survey by providing significant in-kind support. CDFW environmental scientists, boat operators, and scientific aides made the field work possible. Michael Holm provided boat operation and enabled the capture of elusive fish for tagging. Drs. Nann Fangue and Peter Moyle provided reviews of earlier versions of the manuscript and Dr. Neil Willits provided statistical advice. NOAA Fisheries, USBR, USFWS, ECORP, CDWR, and USGS collaborated on the operation of the receiver array. All handling, care, and experimental procedures used were reviewed and approved by the U.C. Davis Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee #17442.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic supplementary material
ESM 1
(DOCX 54 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Miller, E.A., Singer, G.P., Peterson, M.L. et al. Spatio-temporal distribution of Green Sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris) and White Sturgeon (A. transmontanus) in the San Francisco Estuary and Sacramento River, California. Environ Biol Fish 103, 577–603 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-020-00972-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-020-00972-x