Distribution and habitat characteristics of Tubifex tubifex, intermediate host of whirling disease, in Banff National Park
Date
2020-09-22
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Abstract
Whirling Disease was discovered in Canada for the first time in 2016, at Johnson Lake, Banff National Park. The disease is caused by the parasite Myxobolus cerebralis and has caused major declines in trout populations in the United States. The presence of whirling disease in Banff National Park could be detrimental to the recovery of the two native trout species, which are both listed as threatened. The parasite affects salmonid fish, but also requires a second obligate host, the oligochaete, Tubifex tubifex. The presence and distribution of T. tubifex in a waterbody are important factors to predict where M. cerebralis may spread. Occupancy modelling was tested as a method for surveying the distribution of T. tubifex at the site of first detection, Johnson Lake. T. tubifex were present, though had a patchy distribution with low detection probability. High inorganic carbon concentration in the lake sediment was negatively associated with T. tubifex presence. Two watersheds within Banff National Park were also surveyed, zero T. tubifex were found within the Cascade watershed, while T. tubifex had a patchy distribution within the Spray watershed. Habitat covariates were tested using General Linear Models, and T. tubifex were found to be significantly associated with low landscape level slope, and a small contributing area. These results suggest that the presence of T. tubifex is not ubiquitous in waterbodies in the region and understanding habitat could help discover areas with T. tubifex presence.
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Tubifex, Whirling Disease, Myxobolus, cerebralis, Westslope Cutthroat, Banff
Citation
Whelan, C. (2020). Distribution and habitat characteristics of Tubifex tubifex, intermediate host of whirling disease, in Banff National Park (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.