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Climate change, fish, and aquatic habitat in the Blue Mountains [Chapter 5]

Informally Refereed

Abstract

National Forest System lands in the Blue Mountains region support a diversity of important native aquatic species that will be affected by climate change. As part of the Blue Mountains Adaptation Partnership, four of these species (spring Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha Walbaum in Artedi), bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus Suckley), summer steelhead (O. mykiss Walbaum), and interior redband trout (O. m. gibbsi Suckley) were selected for climate vulnerability analysis because of their important role in land management planning (e.g., grazing, timber harvest, Endangered Species Act consultations). These species occupy a broad range of aquatic habitats from small headwaters tributaries to large rivers, both within and downstream of the Malheur, Umatilla, and Wallowa-Whitman National Forests. Although habitats for the selected species overlap in places, each species uses a unique set of aquatic habitats in the Blue Mountains national forests and their associated subbasins, depending on their life stage, season of the year, and available habitat conditions. These species have a diverse array of life history strategies, including anadromy (steelhead and spring Chinook salmon), fluvial and adfluvial movements (bull trout), and residency (bull trout and redband trout).

Parent Publication

Keywords

climate change, fish, aquatic habitat, spring Chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, bull trout, Salvelinus confluentus, summer steelhead, Oncorhynchus mykiss Walbaum, interior redband trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss gibbsi

Citation

Isaak, Daniel J.; Ramsey, Katherine; Chatel, John C.; Konnoff, Deborah L.; Gecy, Robert A.; Horan, Dona. 2017. Climate change, fish, and aquatic habitat in the Blue Mountains [Chapter 5]. In: Halofsky, Jessica E.; Peterson, David L., eds. Climate change vulnerability and adaptation in the Blue Mountains. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-939. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. p. 91-148.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/54096