A new Simon Fraser University-led study looking at the effects that glacier retreat will have on western North American Pacific salmon predicts that while some salmon populations may struggle, others may benefit.
A new Simon Fraser University-led study looking at the effects that glacier retreat will have on western North American Pacific salmon predicts that while some salmon populations may struggle, others may benefit.
The research, published today in the journal BioScience, examined the multiple ways in which salmon might be affected by climate-change driven glacier retreat over the coming decades. The researchers predict that in southern watersheds the loss of cold glacier meltwater during summer months could lead to low water flows and warmer water temperatures, both challenges for adult and young salmon.
However, in more northern watersheds, glacier retreat may create new salmon habitat.
Eighty-five per cent of major salmon watersheds or regions in western North America currently have at least some glacier coverage. Glaciers in this region are expected to lose up to eighty per cent of their ice volume by the year 2100, with significant implications for salmon habitat availability, water flows, and water temperatures.
Read more at Simon Fraser University
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