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
The first expectation McEwen predicted was that salmon would be a problem in the restoration plan. In his article, McEwen explains, “Salmon need clear, cool, highly oxygenated water to thrive – a description that hasn’t fit the San Joaquin since the 1940s”(1). His claim is that the restoration plan won’t work, since the waters are scalding for salmon. In addition, an editorial from this year, “Salmon belong where they can thrive – not in San Joaquin River”,
This had a huge effect on the planktons. Zooplanktons the eat phytoplankton. If there isn’t much phytoplankton for the zooplankton to eat, there numbers will decrease. The article “ The Short‐Term Impact of the Zebra Mussel Invasion,” “phytoplankton fell by 80 percent. Zooplankton (which eat phytoplankton) declined by half.
The anchovies are then eaten by tertiary consumers, which are the bigger fish. The last link in the food chain are humans. We then eat the bigger fish (Food Web). Now, if the algae and bay grass population decreases, then all of the other organisms population in the
Mountain in the Cloud by Bruce Brown is a book outlining the cold hard truth about what we as human beings have done to salmon in the place that we call home. The wild salmon in the Pacific Northwest went from ruling the rivers, to rarely being seen. Bruce Brown gives clear reasons to the slow yet steady disappearance of wild salmon in the PNW and the consequences of such a thing, but also brings awareness to the larger picture of what's going on in the natural world. The main argument Brown makes throughout the entirety of the book is that wild salmon are going extinct due to human causes.
The stickleback fish have gained much attention from evolutionary biologists because of their historic ability to adapt to conditions that were not favorable and to survive successfully in them. They are also able to give researchers insight into how evolution occurs in other organisms. The stickleback normally spawns in freshwater but lives in the salt-water ocean. Long ago when ice melted and receded, the fish were given new possible places to inhabit and they did, expanding their spawning locations to newly formed streams. Eventually, though, the streams were cut off from the sea and the once salt-water sticklebacks were faced with the problem of being stuck in freshwater with no way to get out.1
Bill McEwen does not only use ethos and logos to express and reach out to the reader, but he also uses pathos. With pathos, the author can get into the reader’s mind and make them feel a certain way with his use of words. An example of pathos in the article can be easily shown when McEwen says” The reality is, our federal and state government will spend hundreds of millions-if not billions- of dollars in coming years on a program that will yield a salmon exhibit instead of a substantial fishery”(McEwen 9). McEwen’s use of pathos can be clearly identified in this phrase by looking at the way he states what he is saying. Here, McEwen does not use any facts or famous experts, but he does say this in such a way that the gets the reader really thinking
The Asian Carp Response in the Midwest states: “The presence of Asian carp in the Great Lakes could cause declines in abundances of native fish species. Asian carp will compete with native fish for food—native fish like cisco's, bloaters, and yellow perch, which in turn are fed upon by predator species including lake trout and walleye” (np). Another consequence is the poor quality of water that carp cause when they enter into new waters. They are known to be responsible for the unpredictable and disastrous results in habitats. As stated by Hansen, M. “Asian carp are like zebra mussels, which also prey on the base of aquatic food webs, and can thereby reorganize nutrient and energy flow with unpredictable consequences on native species” (np).
The salmon has lived in the waters of the area for millions of years, and before humans inhabited the area, the salmon lived peacefully and was free to spawn and continue its lifecycle. However, when humans migrated to the Pacific Northwest, they brought new challenges for
The Northwest Coast’s main food source was salmon, thanks to the Pacific Ocean they had plentiful amounts of it. Fishing was usually done in the summer, and stored for the winter, but they were able to fish all year long. Although they did eat and catch other aquatic animals, including whales, salmon was the easiest to catch and the most convenient to store for long periods of time. The Pacific Ocean supplied the tribes with fish, crab, seaweed, whales, mussels, some sea mammals, and fish oil. The people had many methods of catching the fish, the most drastic one was by using harpoons.
And so have their ancestors. The tradition of them living off of the fish will be gone. Alaska has very clean water and that is why it is very rich in wildlife. If the Pebble Mine is approved, acid drainage will occur and leave the crystal clean water polluted with many bad chemicals. The chemicals ruin the salmon's sense of smell which will kill them.
Every year hundreds of species are diminishing due to the global temperature increase. From
In Mcewen’s article river restoration project offers a sprinkling of hope” he states that “san joaquin... has temperatures more suited for bass and bluegill. So thanks to the choice of fish, the project will result in failure thanks to the salmon when it could have succeeded with bass or bluegill. Due to the poor thought on the matter the government
Certain species have a huge impact to an ecosystem, but even the smallest fish could have the biggest impact. Overfishing occurs when more fish are caught than the population can replace through natural reproduction (overfishing). The results not only affect the balance of life in the oceans, but could also affect the coastal areas that depend on fish for their way of life. For centuries, our seas and oceans seem to be considered a limitless food supply. But that is not the case, increasing fishing efforts over the last fifty years as well as unjustifiable fishing practices are pushing many fish stocks to the point of extinction.
The Impacts of Climate Change on Species This paper seeks to research the study of climate change and its effects on biodiversity. This will be done by first understanding what climate change is and what the different effects are. Once this is understood, it will be easier to apply this knowledge to the study of biodiversity and how species are affected. Real life examples of different species that are affected will be mentioned and explained. Climate change is a reoccurring issue in our world that has been observed and studied extensively.
One example is the Crown of Thorns Starfish. This starfish is very abrasive in clearing out a bunch of coral reefs. Being spiny and toxic it truly is a superior over small creatures and even if there are some of its predators, these predators are somehow over-harvested for consumption hence, affecting the food chain cycle. Thus, there would be an increase of their