Christopher M Holbrook, PhD
Christopher Holbrook is a Research Fisheries Biologist based in Millersburg, MI.
Research Themes
My research supports native fish restoration and fishery management in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Most of my work uses fish tracking technology (telemetry) to fill gaps in knowledge of species ecology and population dynamics at scales or resolutions that could not be achieved with other methods. Current research projects focus on the following themes:
- Inform fisheries management, native species restoration, and invasive species control with better understanding of spatial ecology, demographics, and population dynamics.
- Develop and improve aquatic animal tracking methods and capabilities.
Professional Experience
2010 - Present. Research Fish Biologist. USGS Great Lakes Science Center, Hammond Bay Biological Station
2007 - 2010. Fishery Biologist. USGS Western Fisheries Research Center, Columbia River Research Laboratory
2005 - 2007. Graduate Research Assistant. University of Maine, Department of Biological Sciences
2002 - 2004. Biological Science Technician. NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center, Maine Field Station
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. Fisheries and Wildlife. Michigan State University. 2015
M.S. Zoology. University of Maine. 2007
B.S. Zoology. University of Maine. 2004
Science and Products
Publications by this scientist
Filter Total Items: 48
Acoustic telemetry and fisheries management
This paper reviews the use of acoustic telemetry as a tool for addressing issues in fisheries management, and serves as the lead to the special Feature Issue of Ecological Applications titled “Acoustic Telemetry and Fisheries Management”. Specifically, we provide an overview of the ways in which acoustic telemetry can be used to inform issues central to the ecology, conservation, and...
Authors
Glenn T. Crossin, Michelle R. Heupel, Christopher Holbrook, Nigel E. Hussey, Susan K. Lowerre-Barbieri, Vivian T. Nguyen, Graham D. Raby, Steven J. Cooke
Probability of acoustic transmitter detections by receiver lines in Lake Huron: results of multi-year field tests and simulations
BackgroundAdvances in acoustic telemetry technology have led to an improved understanding of the spatial ecology of many freshwater and marine fish species. Understanding the performance of acoustic receivers is necessary to distinguish between tagged fish that may have been present but not detected and from those fish that were absent from the area. In this study, two stationary...
Authors
Todd A. Hayden, Christopher Holbrook, Thomas Binder, John M. Dettmers, Steven J. Cooke, Christopher Vandergoot, Charles C. Krueger
Evaluating harvest-based control of invasive fish with telemetry: Performance of sea lamprey traps in the Great Lakes
Physical removal (e.g., harvest via traps or nets) of mature individuals may be a cost-effective or socially acceptable alternative to chemical control strategies for invasive species, but requires knowledge of the spatial distribution of a population over time. We used acoustic telemetry to determine the current and possible future role of traps to control and assess invasive sea...
Authors
Christopher Holbrook, Roger A. Bergstedt, Jessica Barber, Gale A. Bravener, Michael T. Jones, Charles C. Krueger
Telemetry narrows the search for sea lamprey spawning locations in the St. Clair-Detroit River System
Adult sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) abundance in Lake Erie has remained above targets set by fishery managers since 2005, possibly due to increased recruitment in the St. Clair-Detroit River System (SCDRS). Sea lamprey recruitment in the SCDRS poses an enormous challenge to sea lamprey control and assessment in Lake Erie because the SCDRS contains no dams to facilitate capture and...
Authors
Christopher Holbrook, Aaron K. Jubar, Jessica Barber, Kevin Tallon, Darryl W. Hondorp
Spawning site fidelity of wild and hatchery lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) in northern Lake Huron
Fidelity to high-quality spawning sites helps ensure that adults repeatedly spawn at sites that maximize reproductive success. Fidelity is also an important behavioural characteristic to consider when hatchery-reared individuals are stocked for species restoration, because artificial rearing environments may interfere with cues that guide appropriate spawning site selection. Acoustic...
Authors
Thomas Binder, Stephen Riley, Christopher Holbrook, Michael J. Hansen, Roger A. Bergstedt, Charles R. Bronte, Ji X. He, Charles C. Krueger
A moving target—incorporating knowledge of the spatial ecology of fish into the assessment and management of freshwater fish populations
Freshwater fish move vertically and horizontally through the aquatic landscape for a variety of reasons, such as to find and exploit patchy resources or to locate essential habitats (e.g., for spawning). Inherent challenges exist with the assessment of fish populations because they are moving targets. We submit that quantifying and describing the spatial ecology of fish and their habitat...
Authors
Steven J. Cooke, Eduardo G Martins, Daniel P Struthers, Lee Gutowsky, Michael H. Powers, Susan E. Doka, John M. Dettmers, David A Crook, Martyn C. Lucas, Christopher Holbrook, Charles C. Krueger
Toward a national animal telemetry network for aquatic observations in the United States
Animal telemetry is the science of elucidating the movements and behavior of animals in relation to their environment or habitat. Here, we focus on telemetry of aquatic species (marine mammals, sharks, fish, sea birds and turtles) and so are concerned with animal movements and behavior as they move through and above the world’s oceans, coastal rivers, estuaries and great lakes. Animal...
Authors
Barbara A. Block, Christopher Holbrook, Samantha E. Simmons, Kim N Holland, Jerald S. Ault, Daniel P. Costa, Bruce R. Mate, Andrew C. Seitz, Michael D. Arendt, John Payne, Behzad Mahmoudi, Peter L. Moore, James T. Price, J. J. Levenson, Doug Wilson, Randall E Kochevar
Spatial and temporal variation in positioning probability of acoustic telemetry arrays: Fine-scale variability and complex interactions
Background As popularity of positional acoustic telemetry systems increases, so does the need to better understand how they perform in real-world applications, where variation in performance can bias study conclusions. Studies assessing variability in positional telemetry system performance have focused primarily on position accuracy, or comparing performance inside and outside the array...
Authors
Thomas Binder, Christopher Holbrook, Todd A. Hayden, Charles C. Krueger
Effects of acoustic tag implantation on lake sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens: lack of evidence for changes in behavior
An assumption of studies using acoustic telemetry is that surgical implantation of acoustic transmitters or tags does not alter behavior of tagged individuals. Evaluating the validity of this assumption can be difficult for large fish, such as adult sturgeons, not amenable to controlled laboratory experimentation. The purpose of this study was to determine if and when this assumption was...
Authors
Darryl W. Hondorp, Christopher Holbrook, Charles C. Krueger
Catchment-wide survival of wild- and hatchery-reared Atlantic salmon smolts in a changing system
We developed a hierarchical multistate model to estimate survival of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) smolts in the Penobscot River, USA, over a decade during which two mainstem dams were removed from the catchment. We investigated effects of (i) environmental factors, (ii) rearing history, and (iii) management actions, including dam removal, turbine shutdown, and installation of new...
Authors
Daniel S. Stich, Michael M. Bailey, Christopher Holbrook, Michael T. Kinnison, Joseph D. Zydlewski
An evaluation of a bed instability index as an indicator of habitat quality in mountain streams of the northwestern United States
Managers of aquatic resources benefit from indices of habitat quality that are reproducible and easy to measure, demonstrate a link between habitat quality and biota health, and differ between human-impacted (i.e., managed) and reference (i.e., nonimpacted or minimally impacted) conditions. The instability index (ISI) is an easily measured index that describes the instability of a...
Authors
Paul C. Kusnierz, Christopher Holbrook, David L. Feldman
Fine-scale pathways used by adult sea lampreys during riverine spawning migrations
Better knowledge of upstream migratory patterns of spawning Sea Lampreys Petromyzon marinus, an invasive species in the Great Lakes, is needed to improve trapping for population control and assessment. Although trapping of adult Sea Lampreys provides the basis for estimates of lake-wide abundance that are used to evaluate the Sea Lamprey control program, traps have only been operated at...
Authors
Christopher Holbrook, Roger A. Bergstedt, Noah S. Adams, Tyson Hatton, Robert McLaughlin
Non-USGS Publications**
Holbrook, C.M., Zydlewski, J., Gorsky, D., Shepard, S., and M.T. Kinnison. 2009. Movements of pre-spawn adult Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) near hydroelectric dams in the lower Penobscot River, Maine. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 29: 495-505.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Data releases by this scientist
Science and Products
Publications by this scientist
Filter Total Items: 48
Acoustic telemetry and fisheries management
This paper reviews the use of acoustic telemetry as a tool for addressing issues in fisheries management, and serves as the lead to the special Feature Issue of Ecological Applications titled “Acoustic Telemetry and Fisheries Management”. Specifically, we provide an overview of the ways in which acoustic telemetry can be used to inform issues central to the ecology, conservation, and...
Authors
Glenn T. Crossin, Michelle R. Heupel, Christopher Holbrook, Nigel E. Hussey, Susan K. Lowerre-Barbieri, Vivian T. Nguyen, Graham D. Raby, Steven J. Cooke
Probability of acoustic transmitter detections by receiver lines in Lake Huron: results of multi-year field tests and simulations
BackgroundAdvances in acoustic telemetry technology have led to an improved understanding of the spatial ecology of many freshwater and marine fish species. Understanding the performance of acoustic receivers is necessary to distinguish between tagged fish that may have been present but not detected and from those fish that were absent from the area. In this study, two stationary...
Authors
Todd A. Hayden, Christopher Holbrook, Thomas Binder, John M. Dettmers, Steven J. Cooke, Christopher Vandergoot, Charles C. Krueger
Evaluating harvest-based control of invasive fish with telemetry: Performance of sea lamprey traps in the Great Lakes
Physical removal (e.g., harvest via traps or nets) of mature individuals may be a cost-effective or socially acceptable alternative to chemical control strategies for invasive species, but requires knowledge of the spatial distribution of a population over time. We used acoustic telemetry to determine the current and possible future role of traps to control and assess invasive sea...
Authors
Christopher Holbrook, Roger A. Bergstedt, Jessica Barber, Gale A. Bravener, Michael T. Jones, Charles C. Krueger
Telemetry narrows the search for sea lamprey spawning locations in the St. Clair-Detroit River System
Adult sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) abundance in Lake Erie has remained above targets set by fishery managers since 2005, possibly due to increased recruitment in the St. Clair-Detroit River System (SCDRS). Sea lamprey recruitment in the SCDRS poses an enormous challenge to sea lamprey control and assessment in Lake Erie because the SCDRS contains no dams to facilitate capture and...
Authors
Christopher Holbrook, Aaron K. Jubar, Jessica Barber, Kevin Tallon, Darryl W. Hondorp
Spawning site fidelity of wild and hatchery lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) in northern Lake Huron
Fidelity to high-quality spawning sites helps ensure that adults repeatedly spawn at sites that maximize reproductive success. Fidelity is also an important behavioural characteristic to consider when hatchery-reared individuals are stocked for species restoration, because artificial rearing environments may interfere with cues that guide appropriate spawning site selection. Acoustic...
Authors
Thomas Binder, Stephen Riley, Christopher Holbrook, Michael J. Hansen, Roger A. Bergstedt, Charles R. Bronte, Ji X. He, Charles C. Krueger
A moving target—incorporating knowledge of the spatial ecology of fish into the assessment and management of freshwater fish populations
Freshwater fish move vertically and horizontally through the aquatic landscape for a variety of reasons, such as to find and exploit patchy resources or to locate essential habitats (e.g., for spawning). Inherent challenges exist with the assessment of fish populations because they are moving targets. We submit that quantifying and describing the spatial ecology of fish and their habitat...
Authors
Steven J. Cooke, Eduardo G Martins, Daniel P Struthers, Lee Gutowsky, Michael H. Powers, Susan E. Doka, John M. Dettmers, David A Crook, Martyn C. Lucas, Christopher Holbrook, Charles C. Krueger
Toward a national animal telemetry network for aquatic observations in the United States
Animal telemetry is the science of elucidating the movements and behavior of animals in relation to their environment or habitat. Here, we focus on telemetry of aquatic species (marine mammals, sharks, fish, sea birds and turtles) and so are concerned with animal movements and behavior as they move through and above the world’s oceans, coastal rivers, estuaries and great lakes. Animal...
Authors
Barbara A. Block, Christopher Holbrook, Samantha E. Simmons, Kim N Holland, Jerald S. Ault, Daniel P. Costa, Bruce R. Mate, Andrew C. Seitz, Michael D. Arendt, John Payne, Behzad Mahmoudi, Peter L. Moore, James T. Price, J. J. Levenson, Doug Wilson, Randall E Kochevar
Spatial and temporal variation in positioning probability of acoustic telemetry arrays: Fine-scale variability and complex interactions
Background As popularity of positional acoustic telemetry systems increases, so does the need to better understand how they perform in real-world applications, where variation in performance can bias study conclusions. Studies assessing variability in positional telemetry system performance have focused primarily on position accuracy, or comparing performance inside and outside the array...
Authors
Thomas Binder, Christopher Holbrook, Todd A. Hayden, Charles C. Krueger
Effects of acoustic tag implantation on lake sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens: lack of evidence for changes in behavior
An assumption of studies using acoustic telemetry is that surgical implantation of acoustic transmitters or tags does not alter behavior of tagged individuals. Evaluating the validity of this assumption can be difficult for large fish, such as adult sturgeons, not amenable to controlled laboratory experimentation. The purpose of this study was to determine if and when this assumption was...
Authors
Darryl W. Hondorp, Christopher Holbrook, Charles C. Krueger
Catchment-wide survival of wild- and hatchery-reared Atlantic salmon smolts in a changing system
We developed a hierarchical multistate model to estimate survival of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) smolts in the Penobscot River, USA, over a decade during which two mainstem dams were removed from the catchment. We investigated effects of (i) environmental factors, (ii) rearing history, and (iii) management actions, including dam removal, turbine shutdown, and installation of new...
Authors
Daniel S. Stich, Michael M. Bailey, Christopher Holbrook, Michael T. Kinnison, Joseph D. Zydlewski
An evaluation of a bed instability index as an indicator of habitat quality in mountain streams of the northwestern United States
Managers of aquatic resources benefit from indices of habitat quality that are reproducible and easy to measure, demonstrate a link between habitat quality and biota health, and differ between human-impacted (i.e., managed) and reference (i.e., nonimpacted or minimally impacted) conditions. The instability index (ISI) is an easily measured index that describes the instability of a...
Authors
Paul C. Kusnierz, Christopher Holbrook, David L. Feldman
Fine-scale pathways used by adult sea lampreys during riverine spawning migrations
Better knowledge of upstream migratory patterns of spawning Sea Lampreys Petromyzon marinus, an invasive species in the Great Lakes, is needed to improve trapping for population control and assessment. Although trapping of adult Sea Lampreys provides the basis for estimates of lake-wide abundance that are used to evaluate the Sea Lamprey control program, traps have only been operated at...
Authors
Christopher Holbrook, Roger A. Bergstedt, Noah S. Adams, Tyson Hatton, Robert McLaughlin
Non-USGS Publications**
Holbrook, C.M., Zydlewski, J., Gorsky, D., Shepard, S., and M.T. Kinnison. 2009. Movements of pre-spawn adult Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) near hydroelectric dams in the lower Penobscot River, Maine. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 29: 495-505.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Data releases by this scientist