University of Tasmania
Browse
redirect-nature.pdf (2.05 MB)

Response of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar to temperature and dissolved oxygen extremes established using animal-borne environmental sensors

Download (2.05 MB)
journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-19, 07:08 authored by Stehfest, KM, Christopher CarterChristopher Carter, Jaime McAllisterJaime McAllister, Donald RossDonald Ross, Jayson SemmensJayson Semmens
Understanding how aquatic species respond to extremes of DO and temperature is crucial for determining how they will be affected by climate change, which is predicted to increasingly expose them to levels beyond their optima. In this study we used novel animal-borne DO, temperature and depth sensors to determine the effect of extremes of DO and temperature on the vertical habitat use of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar in aquaculture cages. Salmon showed a preference for temperatures around 16.5 to 17.5 °C, however, selection of preferred temperatures was trumped by active avoidance of low DO (<35% saturation) at the bottom of the cage. In addition to low DO, salmon also avoided warm surface waters (>20.1 °C), which led to a considerable contraction in the available vertical habitat. Despite their avoidance behavior, fish spent a large amount of time in waters with suboptimal DO (<60% saturation). These results show that vertical habitat contraction could likely be a significant consequence of climate change if the reduction in DO outpaces the increase in hypoxia tolerance through local adaptation. They furthermore highlight that site-specific environmental conditions and stock-specific tolerance thresholds may need to be considered when determining stocking densities.

History

Publication title

Scientific Reports

Volume

7

Article number

4545

Number

4545

Pagination

1-10

ISSN

2045-2322

Department/School

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies

Publisher

Nature Publishing Group

Place of publication

4 Crinan St, London, N1 9XW United Kingdom

Rights statement

Copyright 2015 The authors. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Repository Status

  • Open

Socio-economic Objectives

Aquaculture fin fish (excl. tuna)

Usage metrics

    University Of Tasmania

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC