Dataset Detail
Dataset: Chemical Characteristics of Side Channels in the Madison River (Montana) Drainage
| Project: Whirling Disease in the Madison River: Research for Solutions
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| Dataset Abstract: Multiple measurements of temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and conductivity were taken for each side channel. | |
| Significance of Results: The site-specific contribution to whirling disease risk and density of infected T. tubifex were negatively related to water temperatures, and low maximum water temperature was the best single predictor of the site-specific contribution to whirling disease risk. In other studies, the severity of infection in trout was positively correlated to water temperatures in Willow Creek, Montana, and in three drainages in Idaho (Baldwin et al. 2000, Hiner and Moffitt 2002). Water temperature affects the development of the parasite in rainbow trout and T. tubifex (Halliday 1973, El-Matbouli et al. 1999, Blazer et al. 2003, Kerans et al. 2005). Furthermore, high water temperatures (25– 308C) can inhibit M. cerebralis infections of T. tubifex in the laboratory (El-Matbouli et al. 1999). Thus, water temperature may influence infection in T. tubifex, and thus whirling disease risk. While conductivity has been shown to be related to stream productivity and M. cerebralis infection in other studies, the present study did not indicate this relationship. | |
| Relevance to Managers: Dominance of fine sediments and low water temperatures were associated with a high site-specific contribution to whirling disease risk. | |
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