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Impacts of Climatic Change and Fishing on Pacific Salmon Abundance Over the Past 300 Years
Bruce P. Finney,1*Irene Gregory-Eaves,2Jon Sweetman,1Marianne S. V. Douglas,3John P. Smol2
The effects of climate variability on Pacific salmon
abundance are uncertain because historical records are short and arecomplicated by commercial harvesting and habitat alteration. Weuse
lake sediment records of 15N and biological indicators
to reconstruct sockeye salmon abundancein the Bristol Bay and Kodiak
Island regions of Alaska over thepast 300 years. Marked shifts in
populations occurred over decadesduring this period, and some
pronounced changes appear to be relatedto climatic change. Variations
in salmon returns due to climateor harvesting can have strong impacts
on sockeye nursery lakeproductivity in systems where adult salmon
carcasses are importantnutrient sources.
1 Institute of Marine Science, University of
Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA.
2 Paleoecological Environmental Assessment and
Research Lab (PEARL), Department of Biology, Queen's University,
Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada.
3 Department of
Geology, University of Toronto, 22 Russell Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S
3B1, Canada.
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
finney{at}ims.uaf.edu
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15N and biological indicators
to reconstruct sockeye salmon abundance in the Bristol Bay and Kodiak
Island regions of Alaska over the past 300 years. Marked shifts in
populations occurred over decades during this period, and some
pronounced changes appear to be related to climatic change. Variations
in salmon returns due to climate or harvesting can have strong impacts
on sockeye nursery lake productivity in systems where adult salmon
carcasses are important nutrient sources.
