Pacific Salmon Environmental Analysis

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Climate change has been clearly shown to affect Pacific salmon, and it has been generally seen to diminish salmon populations. In the Pacific Northwest, numerous salmon populations have been labeled as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. This is due to climate change warming the ocean, increasing sea levels, and changing flow patterns. It is predicted that salmon populations are only going to continue decreasing due to these changes in their environment. However, some researchers are arguing that Pacific salmon populations are actually going to show an increase in population size, and this is due to an increase in ocean temperatures causing a bottom-up effect that increases resources lower on the food chain, therefore benefitting salmon …show more content…

Furthermore, the authors studied numerous important environmental factors that may be harming Pacific salmon populations in various ways, making the results more precise and in-depth. They studied the effects of increased water temperature, changes in snow, and water flow on mature salmon as well as their reproduction and survival rates of fry. This article also gives suggestions on how to possibly decrease the negative impact ocean conditions are having on salmon, which is beneficial to know what action can be taken to make a …show more content…

It is asserted that this increase in the number of salmon is due to a bottom-up effect, which increases resources salmon need, benefitting the species and allowing a population increase. An increase in water temperature has been shown to increase zooplankton populations, and this gives salmon fry a higher rate of survival. As temperatures have increased, salmon also develop faster and stay sheltered longer, evading predators more. When the water is at a cooler temperature, there are less zooplankton, slower fry development, and an increased vulnerability to predators. This observed increase in pink salmon populations has lead this species to have a top-down effect on other salmon species. As the pink salmon numbers increase, they consume more prey and reduce the population of zooplankton, thusly decreasing the resource for other species of

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