Southern Rocky Mountains Climate Analysis

It is undeniable that climate change is drastically changing our current landscapes throughout the world. There are many individuals who consider climate change to be a natural and organic progression, but many studies indicate that due to excess greenhouse gas emissions, humans are accelerating global warming at an alarming rate. It’s convenient to continuously dismiss the studies and evidence that suggest climate change is real and it could have serious consequences, but when these drastic changes are taking place in our own backyard, it becomes a harsh reality. There is longstanding research, which indicates that the Colorado River has been in a drought since the early 2000’s and researchers allege that due to rising temperatures, the

One of the many problems the severe water drought has caused has affected many of the animals such as the American river fish, salmon, and steelheads. In the Sacramento Bee the article “Drought Threatens American River Fish” by Matt Weiser explains how the steelhead are threatened species who are about to hatch in the American River, but due to the drought the sunny temperature and the

Prior NPRB projects have laid an important foundation outlining the effects climate change on Pink salmon in Alaska. A previous study has detailed the influence that biological, environmental and genetic factors had on the timing of Pink salmon migration (PI: Tallmon, project 1110), allowing us to support these data by testing, in a laboratory setting, the relative influence of specific climate change-related stressors on developmental rate, affecting out migration timing. Understanding environmental factors that influence overall performance of a species is critical to determining the susceptibility of that species to shifting habitat conditions. The proposed research will fill a gap of understanding regarding Pink salmon’s specific sensitivity

With all four seasons prominent throughout the year, Colorado’s climate is ever changing. The climate of my current plot consists of an average temperature of 59.3 °F with rising and falling temperatures with drastic seasonal changes. My plot also consists of an average precipitation of 17in, and an average wind speed being 8.7 mph with the occasional snowfall consisting around 55 in. Furthermore, the fauna around the plot consists of including, squirrels, ducks, and geese. Only a few of the 750 animal species abundant in Colorado. The flora around my plot consists of pussy willows, pines, and aspens all of which make up a small part of Colorado’s 2,600 plant species. The seasonal changes this year to my plot have been less significant than I would have thought, winter in itself had the most change on the plot with the reservoir freezing. This caused the ground to be littered with frost and occasional

A similar study was conducted by Garvey et al (1998), where they examined how large size affects overwinter growth and survival. Largemouth bass were taken from Hebron State Fish Hatchery in Ohio and were used to stock two reservoirs, four research ponds, and 3 pools. Both of these reservoirs were known for having very low densities of age-0 largemouth bass (Garvey et al., 1998). Age-0 fish were stocked in two length categories in the two lakes at the end of October, stocked in the experimental ponds in the middle of October, and stocked in the pools in the end of October. The reservoir tests were done to estimate natural survival rates, the pond tests were completed to compare prey availability to size without predators, and the pool tests were done so researchers could manipulate food availability (Garvey et al., 1998).

As mentioned above, the California Golden Trout prefers to live in the cooler parts stream or lakes. Their ideal habitat water temperature would be from 3 to 20 degree Celsius, which is a perfect range of temperature for them to breath or metabolized food, etc. Since they prefer to stay in colder water, the Golden Trout doesn’t have any additional adaptation to keep its body warm. However, if the body of water gets warmer above 20 degrees, they would migrate to find a different environment that they can survive better in; Colder water provides more oxygen for the fish, while a warmer temperature would be hard for them to survive and reproduce due the lesser amount of oxygen available (Carl – Earth Island Institute).

Animal#2: The bloater fish adapts to the climate of Lake Superior adapts to survive by growing into a bigger size when the temperature gets colder.

-- Streams with stronger habitat fare better. In April and May, stocked trout streams are running high and cold and are perfectly suited to hold trout. Many streams known to support trout year-round are stocked annually with fingerling brown trout. Trout stamp provisions that apply in designated trout streams will also apply to any pond so stocked with trout, except that trout stamp requirements will not be enforced in ponds stocked with trout from April 1 through February 28. In streams where natural baits can be used, minnows, insects and worms are all good choices. Stocked streams don’t often have the prolific bug life that makes native trout streams thrive—but they do have crayfish, and any trout that survive into the warmer months will be preying on these

In the California Central Valley, fall‐run juvenile Chinook salmon rear typically from January to June. However, in some years, the rearing period may be reduced due to high water temperatures in April. Growth and survival rates of juvenile Chinook salmon are affected by water temperature and cover (e.g., substrate pore spaces, gravel interstices, boulders, snags, over‐hanging vegetation, root wads, under‐cut banks, and macrophytes). Cover is important for protection from predation, flow displacement, water temperature stress, and the fish caloric intake optimization. Human-induced sources of stress to the riverine ecosystems include: “(1) overfishing (i.e., extracting larger quantities of fish than the system can sustain naturally); (2) nutrient

During the Pleistocene many barriers to fish dispersal and recolonization already existed in the western United States. The Rocky Mountain Range was formed before the Miocene and the Sierras elevated in the Pliocene, both formidable North-South barriers (Smith 1981). Along with these significant geographic barriers, the western U.S. has historically had much smaller and more climatically unpredictable basins compared to the east. These basins held lower populations of fish which increased the probabilities of extinction and the lack of stability often interrupted speciation (Smith 1981). Despite these factors, there is still some diversity that arose out of these basins largely due to the lacustrine environment that was in place during

Aquatic habitats in the Great Plains region were historically dominated by rivers and streams with associated wetlands and few natural lakes. Native fishes are typically riverine species that are in many cases adapted to strong current, turbid water, and a wide range of water temperatures. However, many species that require clear water and cool temperatures are found as relict populations in springs and headwater streams. The native and introduced fish fauna are an important link in food chains for many species and are significant economic resources for many communities.

Increasing temperatures are an immediate threat to the earth and its many diverse ecosystems. Our group chose to take an in depth look at the effects of climate change on freshwater fish species, specifically on the rising air and freshwater temperatures and how they affect a cold water dwelling fish species such as the trout. We will explore how the distribution of trout has changed over time with rising temperatures, how fires due to climate change affect trout populations, and lastly what the economic impacts of increased water temperatures will be on fisheries.

This suggests that this taxa has some kind of strategy to persist in the face of rapid environmental change. Two populations of Winter Skates were studied to showcase this process, an endangered population in the warmer Gulf of St. Lawrence, and a larger one in the cooler Scotian Shelf. In response to warmer conditions in the Gulf, the skates there got smaller, matured faster, and died sooner. These changes were accomplished with about 3600 changes in the way that this population expressed their

such as trout and burbot (Hynes 1970). Warmer temperatures and changes in water quantity could therefore affect species composition and survival in the oil sands region.

"We call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words” (Anna Sewell). There is undeniable evidence that animals are being affected by climate change. Even though the effects are difficult to measure, there are many different ways animals are being affected. With the loss of predator and prey species it affects the life cycles in the food chain. The earth’s climate change causes habitats such as snow, ice, or forest areas to alter, resulting in loss of habitat and food accessibility as well as causing extinction.