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Click here to go back Details of this species in John Muir Wilderness Study Area Status: Alien Invasiveness: Invasive Occurrence: Present/controlled Source: Fuller, 2006; Knapp & Matthews 1998 Arrival Date: Introduction: Intentional Species Notes for this Location: Salvelinus fontinalis has been introduced as a game fish in rivers and lakes throughout California. Beginning in the late 1800's, when it was stocked in Yosemite National Park. Since it has been introduced to John Muir Wilderness Study Area, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, Lake Tahoe, Truckee, Walker, Central Valley, Klamath, Trinity, Pit, Goose Lake, McCloud, Feather, Yuba, Kern, King, Merced, San Francisco Bay, St. Maria-St. Inez, San Diego, Surprise, Mono Lake, Ownes, and Mojave systems (Fuller, 2006; Knapp & Matthews 2000; Knapp et al. 2005). Management Notes for this Location: Ecological effects of nonnative fishes have resulted the decline of amphibians in many areas of California. Successful experimental removal of Salvelinus fontinalis from lakes in the Sixty Lakes Basin, Kings Canyon Park in the Sierra Nevada from 1996-2003 using 35 hand-deployed gill nets resulted in a rapid recovery of endangered mountain yellow-legged frog (see Rana muscosa in IUCN Red List of Threatened Species) populations. A similar eradication study of the removal of Salvelinus fontinalis from Maul Lake in the Sierra Nevada was performed using monofilament gill nets from 1992-1994 (Vrendenburg, 2004; Knapp & Matthews 1998). Location Notes: Impacts: Modification of natural benthic communities: The introduction of trout including Salvelinus fontinalis to naturally fishless Sierra Nevada lakes, specifically in Kings Canyon National Park and John Muir Wilderness, causes changes in the benthic macroinvertabrate and zooplankton communities (Knapp, 2001). Threat to endangered species: Trout, including Salvelinus fontinalis, introduced to previously fishless lakes throughout California, specifically Kings Canyon National Park and John Muir Wilderness, have caused a significant decline and many extinctions of populations of the endangered mountain yellow-legged frog (see Rana muscosa in IUCN Red List of Threatened Species) (Knapp, 2000; Bradford, 1998; Bradford, 1991; IUCN, 2007). Last Modified: 21/01/2008 11:10:30 a.m.