Webinar on Fish and Climate

Juvenile salmon and rainbow trout.\Photo courtesy of Cape Perpetua Collaborative.

The Cape Perpetua Collaborative’s series of Saturday morning speakers continues with an online talk on how climate is affecting salmon.  Biologist Rebecca Flitcroft will speak on “Winners and losers: climate and Pacific salmon in coastal Oregon” on Saturday, Feb. 5, at 10 a.m.  The event is free and open to all.

Dr. Flitcroft, a research fish biologist with the U.S. Forest Service, is based with the Pacific Northwest Research Station and co-chairs the Freshwater Specialist Group with the World Commission on Protected Areas. She received her doctorate in Fisheries Science and Masters of Science in Natural Resource Geography from Oregon State University. Her current research focuses on Pacific salmonids, multiscale aquatic ecosystem assessments over time, effects of disturbances on aquatic ecosystems and native biota, community-based conservation planning, and aquatic biodiversity.

A description of her talk:

Over the millennia, diverse and changing environments led to the mix of native species that now occupy our rivers, oceans, and lands. Native aquatic species are adapted to survive in the range of environmental conditions present in their natural habitats. This adaptation reflects past survival and reproduction by members of the population. In the Pacific Northwest, few species have such diverse behaviors as salmonids. This reflects the complexity of their genetic lineage and allows them to survive in remarkably variable and dynamic stream conditions. One questions scientists are asking is how well salmonids will survive under future climates that may affect their habitats from small headwater streams to salty tidal channels. For species like Pacific salmonids who use habitats from mountains to sea, we would expect different effects from future climate. What we don’t know, is whether our native species have enough adaptive resilience to survive the potentially confounding effects of a changing climate across these varied environments. In this talk, we will discuss the development and adaptation of Pacific salmon to Northwest stream environments, and some of the changes we may expect to see in the future.

To register for this event, go here.