Climate Change and Juvenile Salmon Habitat in the Kenai River Watershed
As the climate warms in Alaska, most stream temperatures will also warm. Warmer waters affect how juvenile salmon grow and live, but not all changes are made equal. Will wild salmon be able to handle the kinds of sweeping environmental changes that are coming in the next century?
My M.S. thesis at University of Alaska Fairbanks focused on juvenile salmon growth and diet in the Kenai River watershed in the context of climate change. We found that juvenile Chinook and Coho salmon in warmer, low-elevation streams may see decreased peak summer growth rates as air temperatures increase, whereas juvenile salmon in cooler, higher elevation streams may see a smaller magnitude of change.
A manuscript based on the first chapter of my thesis was published in Transactions of the American Fisheries Society in November 2022, available here.
You can also access my full thesis here.