Spatial and Temporal Distinction of Microelemental Signatures of Missouri River Tributaries

The microchemical composition of a fish's calcified structure, such as an otolith, fin ray, or scale, is a ‘biological tag’ that reflects the use of different habitats throughout its life history. Hard‐part microchemistry has the potential to address many fish conservation, management, and behavior questions. In order to use hard‐part microchemistry to address fisheries research questions, elemental signatures of water must be distinct at the spatial scale of interest and ideally temporally stable. The goal of this study was to assess whether spatial differences existed in the concentrations of five elements [barium (137Ba), magnesium (24Mg), manganese (55Mn), sodium (23Na), and strontium (88Sr)] between and within eight Missouri River tributaries and whether those signatures were temporally stable. All elemental concentrations were converted to molar ratios (mmol mol−1) using calcium (43Ca) concentrations as the base. Canonical correspondence analysis showed distinct differences in Mg:Ca, Na:Ca, and Sr:Ca concentrations between the eight tributaries. Cochran–Mantel–Haenszel tests showed that sites within a tributary were distinguished using Mg:Ca and Na:Ca concentrations. However, only Mg:Ca concentrations were temporally stable. Results from this study demonstrate the potential for using hard‐part microchemistry to address various questions at multiple spatial scales in the Missouri River riverscape but also highlight the importance of evaluating water microelemental signatures prior or simultaneous to any hard‐part microchemistry study. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.