Seasonal, Diel, and Landscape Effects on Resource Partitioning between Juvenile Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and Threespine Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) in the Columbia River Estuary

The objective of this study was to determine if exploitative competition between between juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) reduces the foraging opportunity of juvenile Chinook salmon in tidal channels of the Columbia River estuary. We sampled Chinook salmon and stickleback diets monthly and over a diel cycle in spatially distinct emergent marshes of the Columbia River estuary. Diets of the two fish species did not differ among marsh systems, but both fish species exhibited diel and seasonal differences in diet composition. Diet overlap between the two fish species was greatest in March and June. Exploitative competition was unlikely based on a comparison between consumption rates and estimated invertebrate production.