Predicting favourable streams for anadromous salmon spawning and natal rearing under climate change

Iacarella, Josephine C.; Weller, J. Daniel

doi:10.1139/cjfas-2023-0096

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 80 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Future responses of salmon to climate change will be diverse and complicated by lake‐specific geomorphology, which can differentially filter regional climate to shape habitat conditions that are unique to each population. Air temperatures are predicted to increase at northern latitudes across seasons over the next century (Woolway et al., 2021), which inevitably will create opportunities and constraints for salmon during freshwater rearing (Iacarella & Weller, 2023). Growth likely will increase for fishes in lakes where thermal environments currently are cooler than their optimum, yet decrease for those that are at or above their optimum (Magnuson et al., 1997); an acceleration of glacier melt under warming temperatures may further suppress fish growth, at least for some populations over the near term.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat modulates population‐level responses of freshwater salmon growth to a century of change in climate and competition

Price,

Moore,

McKinnell

et al. 2023

Global Change Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The impacts of climate change are widespread and threaten natural systems globally. Yet, within regions, heterogeneous physical landscapes can differentially filter climate, leading to local response diversity. For example, it is possible that while freshwater lakes are sensitive to climate change, they may exhibit a diversity of thermal responses owing to their unique morphology, which in turn can differentially affect the growth and survival of vulnerable biota such as fishes. In particular, salmonids are cold‐water fishes with complex life histories shaped by diverse freshwater habitats that are sensitive to warming temperatures. Here we examine the influence of habitat on the growth of sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) in nursery lakes of Canada's Skeena River watershed over a century of change in regional temperature and intraspecific competition. We found that freshwater growth has generally increased over the last century. While growth tended to be higher in years with relatively higher summer air temperatures (a proxy for lake temperature), long‐term increases in growth appear largely influenced by reduced competition. However, habitat played an important role in modulating the effect of high temperature. Specifically, growth was positively associated with rising temperatures in relatively deep (>50 m) nursery lakes, whereas warmer temperatures were not associated with a change in growth for fish among shallow lakes. The influence of temperature on growth also was modulated by glacier extent whereby the growth of fish from lakes situated in watersheds with little (i.e., <5%) glacier cover increased with rising temperatures, but decreased with rising temperatures for fish in lakes within more glaciated watersheds. Maintaining the integrity of an array of freshwater habitats—and the processes that generate and maintain them—will help foster a diverse climate‐response portfolio for important fish species, which in turn can ensure that salmon watersheds are resilient to future environmental change.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%