Simulated juvenile salmon growth and phenology respond to altered thermal regimes and stream network shape.

ABSTRACT: It is generally accepted that climate change will stress coldwater species like Pacific salmon. However, it is unclear what aspect of altered thermal regimes (e.g., warmer winters, springs, summers, or increased variability) will have the greatest effect, and what role the spatial properties of river networks play. Thermally diverse habitats may afford protection from climate change by providing opportunities for aquatic organisms to find and use habitats with optimal conditions for growth. We hypothesized that climate-altered thermal regimes will change growth and timing of life history events such as emergence or migration but that changes will be moderated in topologically complex stream networks where opportunities to thermoregulate are more readily available to mobile animals. Because

SUBMITTER: Fullerton AH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5854398 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature