Salmon vulnerability maps - Effect of Climate Change on Salmon Population Vulnerability
1. Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and other Pacific salmon are threatened by unsustainable
levels of harvest, genetic introgression from hatchery stocks and degradation or loss of freshwater
habitat. Projected climate change is expected to further stress salmon through increases
in stream temperatures and altered stream flows.
2. We demonstrate a spatially explicit method for assessing salmon vulnerability to projected
climatic changes (scenario for the years 20302059), applied here to steelhead salmon across
the entire Pacific Northwest (PNW). We considered steelhead exposure to increased temperatures
and more extreme high and low flows during four of their primary freshwater life stages:
adult migration, spawning, incubation and rearing. Steelhead sensitivity to climate change
was estimated on the basis of their regulatory status and the condition of their habitat. We
assessed combinations of exposure and sensitivity to suggest actions that may be most effective
for reducing steelhead vulnerability to climate change.
3. Our relative ranking of locations suggested that steelhead exposure to increases in temperature
will be most widespread in the southern Pacific Northwest, whereas exposure to substantial
flow changes will be most widespread in the interior and northern Pacific Northwest.
There were few locations where we projected that steelhead had both relatively low exposure
and sensitivity to climate change.
4. Synthesis and applications. There are few areas where habitat protection alone is likely to
be sufficient to conserve steelhead under the scenario of climate change considered here.
Instead, our results suggest the need for coordinated, landscape-scale actions that both
increase salmon resilience and ameliorate climate change impacts, such as restoring connectivity
of floodplains and high-elevation habitats.
Salmon gridded data for PNW.
Complete Metadata
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| description | 1. Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and other Pacific salmon are threatened by unsustainable levels of harvest, genetic introgression from hatchery stocks and degradation or loss of freshwater habitat. Projected climate change is expected to further stress salmon through increases in stream temperatures and altered stream flows. 2. We demonstrate a spatially explicit method for assessing salmon vulnerability to projected climatic changes (scenario for the years 20302059), applied here to steelhead salmon across the entire Pacific Northwest (PNW). We considered steelhead exposure to increased temperatures and more extreme high and low flows during four of their primary freshwater life stages: adult migration, spawning, incubation and rearing. Steelhead sensitivity to climate change was estimated on the basis of their regulatory status and the condition of their habitat. We assessed combinations of exposure and sensitivity to suggest actions that may be most effective for reducing steelhead vulnerability to climate change. 3. Our relative ranking of locations suggested that steelhead exposure to increases in temperature will be most widespread in the southern Pacific Northwest, whereas exposure to substantial flow changes will be most widespread in the interior and northern Pacific Northwest. There were few locations where we projected that steelhead had both relatively low exposure and sensitivity to climate change. 4. Synthesis and applications. There are few areas where habitat protection alone is likely to be sufficient to conserve steelhead under the scenario of climate change considered here. Instead, our results suggest the need for coordinated, landscape-scale actions that both increase salmon resilience and ameliorate climate change impacts, such as restoring connectivity of floodplains and high-elevation habitats. Salmon gridded data for PNW. |
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| identifier | gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:18013 |
| keyword |
[
"Non-NOAA Funded",
"Habitat characteristics",
"climate change",
"habitat",
"salmon",
"Pacific NW",
"DOC/NOAA/NMFS/NWFSC > Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. U.S. Department of Commerce",
"FE (Fish Ecology) Division"
]
|
| landingPage | https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/18013 |
| language |
[]
|
| license | https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ |
| modified | 2025-05-15T19:16:15.000+00:00 |
| publisher |
{
"name": "Northwest Fisheries Science Center",
"@type": "org:Organization"
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|
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[
"https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/nwfsc/dmp/pdf/18013.pdf"
]
|
| rights | otherRestrictions, unclassified |
| spatial | -122.2962,47.6449,-122.3062,47.6549 |
| temporal | 2010-01-01T00:00:00+00:00/2013-09-30T00:00:00+00:00 |
| title | Salmon vulnerability maps - Effect of Climate Change on Salmon Population Vulnerability |
