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A Climate Angle on Uncertainty in Salmon Recovery Scenarios

This article explores the complex spatial and temporal variability of climate in the Pacific Northwest and its impact on salmon recovery scenarios. It emphasizes the importance of considering climate uncertainty for realistic recovery plans.

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A Climate Angle on Uncertainty in Salmon Recovery Scenarios

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  1. A Climate Angle on Uncertainty in Salmon Recovery Scenarios Nate Mantua Ph D Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Oceans University of Washington

  2. Key Points • Spatial variability: • Complex topography in PS region yields complex spatial patterns of hydro-climate • Temporal variability: • Climate and weather variations cause habitat variations at time scales from days to decades • Salmon in the future? • Don’t buy into long-term climate predictions! • Careful considerations of climate uncertainty will help paint more realistic pictures of the true uncertainty in recovery scenarios

  3. The predictable part: seasonal rhythms Puget Sound Precip Insolation Oct Feb Jun Upwelling winds at 48N Oct Feb Jun Jan May Sep Amphitrite Pt SST Oct Feb Jun

  4. The predictable part: seasonal rhythms Puget Sound Precip Skagit Oct Feb Jun Oct Feb Jun Puyallup Oct Feb Jun Skokomish Oct Feb Jun

  5. Why is climate important? • salmon have successfully colonized and occupied each stream type (snow-melt, runoff, and everything in-between) • Different stocks employ distinct life history behaviors tuned to the predictable seasonal rhythms • “stability” and “variability” of seasonal climate and environmental changes have obviously played a role in shaping salmon behavior at the stock level

  6. Variations on the seasonal rhythms Monthly Puget Sound Precip Skagit 70 75 80 85 90 95 00 70 75 80 85 90 95 00 Puyallup Daily Upwelling winds 70 75 80 85 90 95 00 70 75 80 85 90 95 00 Skokomish Monthly Amphitrite Pt SST 70 75 80 85 90 95 00 70 75 80 85 90 95 00

  7. Upwelling impacts (August 2000) Chlorophyll temperature

  8. upwelling food webs in our coastal ocean: the California Current Cool water, weak stratification high nutrients, a productive “subarctic” food-chain with abundant forage fish and few warm water predators Warm stratified ocean, few nutrients, low productivity “subtropical” food web, a lack of forage fish and abundant predators

  9. Alaska and PNW salmon production are out of phase (Hare et al 1999, Fisheries)

  10. future climate? TWO STREAMS OF UNCERTAINTY: • Natural Variability (El Niño, PDO, other) • Anthropogenic change • Future emissions and greenhouse gas concentrations • Climate system response to increased concentrations of greenhouse gases • future climate change is now assessed with a range of models and scenarios …

  11. Uncertainty in future climate Part 1: GG Emissions and concentrations IPCC Summary for Policymakers 2001

  12. Uncertainty in future climate Part 2: Climate Sensitivity Temperature Change (C)

  13. What might climate change look like in the Northwest? • We looked at 7 scenarios of future climate from climate models • Averages of 7 scenarios, compared to 20th century: • 2F warmer by 2020s • 4F warmer by 2050s • slightly wetter • Winters wetter • Summers ??? 20th century average

  14. Impacts of hydrologic changes • Less snow, earlier melt means less water in summer • irrigation • urban uses • fisheries protection • energy production • More water in winter • energy production • flooding Natural Columbia River flow at the Dalles, OR.

  15. recommendations • Consider climate as a source of habitat uncertainty • develop recovery scenarios based on past climate records and/or future scenarios, perhaps bounded by “best” and “worst” cases • Consider potential roles for stock diversity • explore a range of functional relationships between habitat state and survival • examine the importance of straying between different population segments

  16. OPI (hatchery) coho marine survival Question: WHY? leading hypothesis: changes in ocean conditions impact the entire marine food-web

  17. “Ocean Conditions Model” hindcasts for 1948-1968 Ocean conditions appear to be an important piece of the OPI hatchery coho story; they may or may not explain an important part of 48-68 coho landings. Washington-Oregon-California coho landings 10 6 Catch in millions of coho 8 OPI survival rate (%) 6 4 4 2 2

  18. The Doomsday Clock 2001 Their approach amounts to a “persistence forecast” based on expectations for continued “non-replacement productivity” observed in the 1985-1994 period Wild Spawners Brood year 1999 2020 Oosterhout and Mundy, 2001

  19. Hatcheries: a fish is a fish Ex: smolt migration timing in wild and hatchery coho Spring transition date Wild coho smolt migration Hatchery coho releases Mar Apr May June July

  20. ocean temperature deviations from normalFebruary-April 2002

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