Modelling future hydroclimatic effects on the Coregonus migratorius spawning migration in the Selenga River and Lake Baikal

Regional climate change affects the flow conditions in river basins which can impact the health of aquatic ecosystems. Potential impacts of future climate scenarios on Coregonus migratorius spawning migration in the Selenga River were assessed. A regional process-based hydrological model was used to...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences
Main Authors: Moreydo, Vsevolod, Millionshchikova, Tatiana, Chalov, Sergey
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.5194/piahs-381-113-2019
https://piahs.copernicus.org/articles/381/113/2019/
Description
Summary:Regional climate change affects the flow conditions in river basins which can impact the health of aquatic ecosystems. Potential impacts of future climate scenarios on Coregonus migratorius spawning migration in the Selenga River were assessed. A regional process-based hydrological model was used to reproduce the historical trends in the annual flow and assess its future changes under several climate change scenarios. Annual flow projections were used to identify preferential river reaches for spawning activity of the Arctic cisco ( Coregonus migratorius ), based on the significant negative correlation of spawning activity with the Selenga River streamflow. The applied methodology shows that the projected decline in runoff of 10 % to 25 % in XXI century may result in shifting of the spawning locations further upstream of the Ulan-Ude city, a local “pollution hotspot”.