River-sea thermal differential experienced by salmon post-smolts is not a proximal driver of marine survival.

ABSTRACT: Wild Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) populations from many North Atlantic rivers have declined over recent decades. As these declines are thought to be driven largely by changes in the marine phase of the life cycle, there is a drive towards investigating causes and developing indicators for marine survival. Warming of rivers and seas is altering the smolt thermal environments and migration phenology. This may be causing increasing mismatch between in-river cues used by salmon to optimise the timing of their downstream migration and the suitability of thermal and trophic conditions encountered on sea entry. In this study, recently mobilised data on smolt migration timing, adult marine return rates and freshwater and marine temperatures are used to assess the potential of river-sea thermal di

SUBMITTER: Tyldesley E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12536060 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature