Fine-scale spatiotemporal influences of salmon on growth and nitrogen signatures of Sitka spruce tree rings

摘要

BackgroundThe marine-terrestrial transfer of salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) provides a substantial pulse of nutrients to receiving ecosystems along the Pacific coast of North America and has been shown to enhance productivity and isotopic signatures of conifers and other riparian vegetation. An explicitly spatial, within-watershed investigation of the influence of salmon on conifers has never been previously investigated. In a small salmon-bearing watershed in Haida Gwaii, Canada, the transfer and distributional pattern of salmon carcasses into the riparian zone by black bears provided a spatial basis for investigating the influence of salmon on Sitka spruce tree ring growth and nitrogen isotopic signatures (δ¹⁵N) across a gradient of salmon carcass densities in relation to salmon escapement.