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  • Academic
    eebyrnes@stanford.edu
    University - Scholar Department: Department of Oceans Position: Postdoctoral Scholar

All Publications

  • Burst swimming in sockeye salmon during their 1100 km upstream migration. Conservation physiology Birnie-Gauvin, K., Robinson, K. A., Byrnes, E. E., Van Wert, J. C., Venditti, J. G., Cooke, S. J., Eliason, E. J., Patterson, D. A. 2026; 14 (1): coag066

    Abstract

    In the Fraser River (British Columbia, Canada), some sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) populations migrate upwards of 1100 km to reach their spawning grounds and encounter challenging river conditions. Understanding how sockeye salmon partition their finite energy budget into aerobic (sustained) and anaerobic (burst) swimming could help us understand why some fish successfully make it to the spawning grounds while others do not. We tagged sockeye salmon upon their entry in freshwater with archival accelerometer radio tags and recovered 16 tags on the spawning grounds, providing us with the first full migration datasets from which we can quantify burst swimming. We found that the type of bursts (e.g. duration, maxima, peak count and effort) varies along their migration, likely reflecting changing flow dynamics and channel morphology, but that on average, fish only spend 1.2% of their migration bursting. Unsurprisingly, the Fraser Canyon required significantly more bursting than the remainder of their migration, representing 75.3% of the cumulative bursting effort despite representing only 35% of the distance. In this reach, sockeye salmon performed on average 4.5 bursts per km and 117 bursts per day, representing an effort of 40.0 g km-1, which is significantly more than in any other reach. Moreover, we found that in the early phases of the migration (Lower Fraser and Canyon), salmon avoided bursting at night-time. We did not however find evidence of individual repeatability in the types of bursts that individual fish perform. Our study is the first to quantify burst swimming over a 1100 km migratory route in sockeye salmon. Our findings indicate that despite the repeated need to burst, salmon are equipped to do so in an energy-conserving way. This knowledge is useful for resource managers as they make decisions about mitigation actions that could make migrations easier especially in the context of a warmer future.

    View details for DOI 10.1093/conphys/coag066

    View details for PubMedID 42732254

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC13570124

  • Intraspecific scaling of home range size and its bioenergetic association ECOLOGY Byrnes, E. E., Hounslow, J. L., Heim, V., White, C. E., Smukall, M. J., Beatty, S. J., Gleiss, A. C. 2025; 106 (2): e70003

    Abstract

    Home range size and metabolic rate of animals are theorized to scale in relation to body mass with similar exponents. This expectation has only been indirectly tested using lab-derived estimates of basal metabolic rate as proxies for field energy requirements. Therefore, it is unclear if existing theory aligns with observed patterns of home range scaling since field metabolic rates may scale differently than basal metabolic rates. We conducted the first direct field test of the relationship between home range and metabolic rate allometry. Using acoustic telemetry, we simultaneously measured the home range sizes and field metabolic rates of lemon sharks (Negaprion brevirostris) spanning one order of magnitude in body mass and compared the allometric scaling exponents of these traits. Similarity between allometric scaling exponents confirmed an expected strong association between metabolic rate and home range size. However, a nonsignificant but negative association between standard metabolic rate (SMR) and home range size suggests a complex relationship between metabolism and home range, contrasting previous assumptions of a positive relationship. Nevertheless, an overall positive association between home range size and total metabolic rate persisted, driven by a strong association between active energy expenditure and home range size. These findings underscore the intricate relationship between energetics and home range size, emphasizing the need for additional direct field investigations and the potential for modern tagging technologies to gather relevant data.

    View details for DOI 10.1002/ecy.70003

    View details for Web of Science ID 001414077800001

    View details for PubMedID 39912258

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC11800060

  • Habitat selection and spatial behaviour of vulnerable juvenile lemon sharks: Implications for conservation ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS Kressler, M. M., Byrnes, E. E., Trevail, A. M., White, C. E., Heim, V., Smukall, M., Gleiss, A. C., Sherley, R. B. 2024; 166

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.ecolind.2024.112239

    View details for Web of Science ID 001284293000001