Juvenile salmonid populations in a temperate river system track synoptic trends in climate
Abstract Widespread decline among Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and brown trout (Salmo trutta) over recent decades have been linked to pollution, exploitation and catchment modification, but climate change is increasingly implicated. We used long-term, geographically extensive data from the Welsh Ri...
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/2262/48620 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02211.x |
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fttrinitycoll:oai:tara.tcd.ie:2262/48620 2023-05-15T15:31:37+02:00 Juvenile salmonid populations in a temperate river system track synoptic trends in climate 2011-01-06T03:55:36Z http://hdl.handle.net/2262/48620 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02211.x en eng Wiley-Blackwell 1354-1013 (pISSN) 1365-2486 (eISSN) 13541013 (ISSN) GCB (PII) GCB-09-0822.R1 (manuscript) http://hdl.handle.net/2262/48620 Global Change Biology 16 12 3271 doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02211.x GCB (abbrev) 12 months Life Sciences 2011 fttrinitycoll https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02211.x 2020-02-16T13:50:47Z Abstract Widespread decline among Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and brown trout (Salmo trutta) over recent decades have been linked to pollution, exploitation and catchment modification, but climate change is increasingly implicated. We used long-term, geographically extensive data from the Welsh River Wye, formerly a major salmon river, to examine whether climatically-mediated effects on juveniles (> 0+) might contribute to population change.Populations of Atlantic salmon and brown trout fell across the Wye catchment respectively by 50% and 67% between 1985 and 2004, but could not be explained by pollution because water quality improved during this time.Stream temperatures, estimated from calibrations against weekly air temperature at 8 sites, increased by 0.5-0.7 ?C in summer and 0.7-1.0 ?C in winter, with larger tributaries warming more than shaded headwaters. Rates of winter warming were slightly greater after accounting for the effect of the North Atlantic Oscillation (1.1-1.4 ?C). However, warming through time was smaller than measured variations among tributaries, and alone was insufficient to explain variations in salmonid density. Instead, population variations were best explained in multi-level mixed models by a synoptic variate representing a trend towards hotter, drier summers, implying interactions between climate warming, varying discharge and fluctuatations in both brown trout and salmon. Taken alongside recent data showing effects of warming on survival at sea, these data suggest that Atlantic salmon might be jeopardised by future climatic effects in both their marine and freshwater stages. Effects on non-diadromous brown trout also imply climatically mediated processes in freshwaters or their catchments. Climate projections for the UK suggest that altered summer flow and increasing summer temperatures could exacerbate losses further in these species, and we advocate management actions that combine reduced abstraction with enhanced riparian shading dbsec@nus.edu.sg (Clews, Esther) durancei@cardiff.ac.uk (Durance, Isabelle) vaughanip@cardiff.ac.uk (Vaughan, Ian) ormerod@cardiff.ac.uk (Ormerod, Steve) Cardiff University, School of Biosciences - Cardiff - UNITED KINGDOM (Clews, Esther) National Univerity of Singapore, Biological Sciences - 14 Science Drive 4--> - 117543 - Singapore - SINGAPORE (Clews, Esther) Cardiff University, School of Biosciences - Cardiff - UNITED KINGDOM (Durance, Isabelle) Cardiff University, School of Biosciences - Cardiff - UNITED KINGDOM (Vaughan, Ian) Cardiff University, School of Biosciences - Cardiff --> - CF10 3AX - Cardiff - UNITED KINGDOM (Ormerod, Steve) SINGAPORE UNITED KINGDOM Other/Unknown Material Atlantic salmon North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation Salmo salar The University of Dublin, Trinity College: TARA (Trinity's Access to Research Archive) Esther ENVELOPE(-57.700,-57.700,-61.917,-61.917) Global Change Biology 16 12 3271 3283 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
The University of Dublin, Trinity College: TARA (Trinity's Access to Research Archive) |
op_collection_id |
fttrinitycoll |
language |
English |
topic |
Life Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Life Sciences Juvenile salmonid populations in a temperate river system track synoptic trends in climate |
topic_facet |
Life Sciences |
description |
Abstract Widespread decline among Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and brown trout (Salmo trutta) over recent decades have been linked to pollution, exploitation and catchment modification, but climate change is increasingly implicated. We used long-term, geographically extensive data from the Welsh River Wye, formerly a major salmon river, to examine whether climatically-mediated effects on juveniles (> 0+) might contribute to population change.Populations of Atlantic salmon and brown trout fell across the Wye catchment respectively by 50% and 67% between 1985 and 2004, but could not be explained by pollution because water quality improved during this time.Stream temperatures, estimated from calibrations against weekly air temperature at 8 sites, increased by 0.5-0.7 ?C in summer and 0.7-1.0 ?C in winter, with larger tributaries warming more than shaded headwaters. Rates of winter warming were slightly greater after accounting for the effect of the North Atlantic Oscillation (1.1-1.4 ?C). However, warming through time was smaller than measured variations among tributaries, and alone was insufficient to explain variations in salmonid density. Instead, population variations were best explained in multi-level mixed models by a synoptic variate representing a trend towards hotter, drier summers, implying interactions between climate warming, varying discharge and fluctuatations in both brown trout and salmon. Taken alongside recent data showing effects of warming on survival at sea, these data suggest that Atlantic salmon might be jeopardised by future climatic effects in both their marine and freshwater stages. Effects on non-diadromous brown trout also imply climatically mediated processes in freshwaters or their catchments. Climate projections for the UK suggest that altered summer flow and increasing summer temperatures could exacerbate losses further in these species, and we advocate management actions that combine reduced abstraction with enhanced riparian shading dbsec@nus.edu.sg (Clews, Esther) durancei@cardiff.ac.uk (Durance, Isabelle) vaughanip@cardiff.ac.uk (Vaughan, Ian) ormerod@cardiff.ac.uk (Ormerod, Steve) Cardiff University, School of Biosciences - Cardiff - UNITED KINGDOM (Clews, Esther) National Univerity of Singapore, Biological Sciences - 14 Science Drive 4--> - 117543 - Singapore - SINGAPORE (Clews, Esther) Cardiff University, School of Biosciences - Cardiff - UNITED KINGDOM (Durance, Isabelle) Cardiff University, School of Biosciences - Cardiff - UNITED KINGDOM (Vaughan, Ian) Cardiff University, School of Biosciences - Cardiff --> - CF10 3AX - Cardiff - UNITED KINGDOM (Ormerod, Steve) SINGAPORE UNITED KINGDOM |
title |
Juvenile salmonid populations in a temperate river system track synoptic trends in climate |
title_short |
Juvenile salmonid populations in a temperate river system track synoptic trends in climate |
title_full |
Juvenile salmonid populations in a temperate river system track synoptic trends in climate |
title_fullStr |
Juvenile salmonid populations in a temperate river system track synoptic trends in climate |
title_full_unstemmed |
Juvenile salmonid populations in a temperate river system track synoptic trends in climate |
title_sort |
juvenile salmonid populations in a temperate river system track synoptic trends in climate |
publisher |
Wiley-Blackwell |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2262/48620 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02211.x |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-57.700,-57.700,-61.917,-61.917) |
geographic |
Esther |
geographic_facet |
Esther |
genre |
Atlantic salmon North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation Salmo salar |
genre_facet |
Atlantic salmon North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation Salmo salar |
op_relation |
1354-1013 (pISSN) 1365-2486 (eISSN) 13541013 (ISSN) GCB (PII) GCB-09-0822.R1 (manuscript) http://hdl.handle.net/2262/48620 Global Change Biology 16 12 3271 doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02211.x GCB (abbrev) |
op_rights |
12 months |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02211.x |
container_title |
Global Change Biology |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
3271 |
op_container_end_page |
3283 |
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1766362148708024320 |