Climate and human exploitation have regulated Atlantic salmon populations in the River Spey, Scotland, over the last 2000 years

Historical salmon catch records suggest that climatic variability, and more recently human exploitation, control patterns of abundance in Atlantic salmon populations. We present the first long-term (2000-year) reconstruction of Atlantic Salmon population variations based on a Marine Derived Nutrient...

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Published in:The Holocene
Main Authors: Sear, David, Langdon, Pete, Leng, Melanie, Edwards, Mary, Heaton, Tim, Langdon, Catherine, Leyland, Julian
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Sage 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532715/
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532715/1/09596836221095983.pdf
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spelling ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:532715 2023-05-15T15:30:08+02:00 Climate and human exploitation have regulated Atlantic salmon populations in the River Spey, Scotland, over the last 2000 years Sear, David Langdon, Pete Leng, Melanie Edwards, Mary Heaton, Tim Langdon, Catherine Leyland, Julian 2022-06-07 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532715/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532715/1/09596836221095983.pdf en eng Sage https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532715/1/09596836221095983.pdf Sear, David; Langdon, Pete; Leng, Melanie orcid:0000-0003-1115-5166 Edwards, Mary; Heaton, Tim; Langdon, Catherine; Leyland, Julian. 2022 Climate and human exploitation have regulated Atlantic salmon populations in the River Spey, Scotland, over the last 2000 years. The Holocene, 32 (8). 780-793. https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836221095983 <https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836221095983> cc_by_nc_4 CC-BY-NC Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2022 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836221095983 2023-02-04T19:53:22Z Historical salmon catch records suggest that climatic variability, and more recently human exploitation, control patterns of abundance in Atlantic salmon populations. We present the first long-term (2000-year) reconstruction of Atlantic Salmon population variations based on a Marine Derived Nutrient (MDN) lake sediment record. Our record is constructed from nitrogen isotopes (δ15N) measured from a lake sediment core, which we compare with an escapement index (EI) derived from historic net catch data on major Scottish salmon rivers. We used an isotope mixing model to demonstrate that the N isotope values are likely enriched with MDN and demonstrate that Loch Insh sediments are enriched compared with a control site (Loch Vaa) that has never had exposure to salmon. We demonstrate that current adult spawner returns are around half that of historic values prior to major human exploitation. Before the onset of widespread human exploitation and habitat degradation, large fluctuations in salmon abundance are attributed to variations in North Atlantic sea surface temperature. While our data support published reconstructions of declining Atlantic salmon stocks in Northwest European rivers over the last 1000 years, rather than point to a solely human cause, the human impact appears to be overprinted on larger-scale changes in marine habitat occurring at the transition from the warmer Medieval Climatic Anomaly (MCA) to the cooler Little Ice Age (LIA). Article in Journal/Newspaper Atlantic salmon North Atlantic Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive The Holocene 32 8 780 793
institution Open Polar
collection Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive
op_collection_id ftnerc
language English
description Historical salmon catch records suggest that climatic variability, and more recently human exploitation, control patterns of abundance in Atlantic salmon populations. We present the first long-term (2000-year) reconstruction of Atlantic Salmon population variations based on a Marine Derived Nutrient (MDN) lake sediment record. Our record is constructed from nitrogen isotopes (δ15N) measured from a lake sediment core, which we compare with an escapement index (EI) derived from historic net catch data on major Scottish salmon rivers. We used an isotope mixing model to demonstrate that the N isotope values are likely enriched with MDN and demonstrate that Loch Insh sediments are enriched compared with a control site (Loch Vaa) that has never had exposure to salmon. We demonstrate that current adult spawner returns are around half that of historic values prior to major human exploitation. Before the onset of widespread human exploitation and habitat degradation, large fluctuations in salmon abundance are attributed to variations in North Atlantic sea surface temperature. While our data support published reconstructions of declining Atlantic salmon stocks in Northwest European rivers over the last 1000 years, rather than point to a solely human cause, the human impact appears to be overprinted on larger-scale changes in marine habitat occurring at the transition from the warmer Medieval Climatic Anomaly (MCA) to the cooler Little Ice Age (LIA).
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Sear, David
Langdon, Pete
Leng, Melanie
Edwards, Mary
Heaton, Tim
Langdon, Catherine
Leyland, Julian
spellingShingle Sear, David
Langdon, Pete
Leng, Melanie
Edwards, Mary
Heaton, Tim
Langdon, Catherine
Leyland, Julian
Climate and human exploitation have regulated Atlantic salmon populations in the River Spey, Scotland, over the last 2000 years
author_facet Sear, David
Langdon, Pete
Leng, Melanie
Edwards, Mary
Heaton, Tim
Langdon, Catherine
Leyland, Julian
author_sort Sear, David
title Climate and human exploitation have regulated Atlantic salmon populations in the River Spey, Scotland, over the last 2000 years
title_short Climate and human exploitation have regulated Atlantic salmon populations in the River Spey, Scotland, over the last 2000 years
title_full Climate and human exploitation have regulated Atlantic salmon populations in the River Spey, Scotland, over the last 2000 years
title_fullStr Climate and human exploitation have regulated Atlantic salmon populations in the River Spey, Scotland, over the last 2000 years
title_full_unstemmed Climate and human exploitation have regulated Atlantic salmon populations in the River Spey, Scotland, over the last 2000 years
title_sort climate and human exploitation have regulated atlantic salmon populations in the river spey, scotland, over the last 2000 years
publisher Sage
publishDate 2022
url http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532715/
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532715/1/09596836221095983.pdf
genre Atlantic salmon
North Atlantic
genre_facet Atlantic salmon
North Atlantic
op_relation https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532715/1/09596836221095983.pdf
Sear, David; Langdon, Pete; Leng, Melanie orcid:0000-0003-1115-5166
Edwards, Mary; Heaton, Tim; Langdon, Catherine; Leyland, Julian. 2022 Climate and human exploitation have regulated Atlantic salmon populations in the River Spey, Scotland, over the last 2000 years. The Holocene, 32 (8). 780-793. https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836221095983 <https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836221095983>
op_rights cc_by_nc_4
op_rightsnorm CC-BY-NC
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836221095983
container_title The Holocene
container_volume 32
container_issue 8
container_start_page 780
op_container_end_page 793
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