Researchers from the University of Washington recently published a study in Global Change Biology that indicates one of Alaska’s most abundant freshwater fish species is altering its breeding patterns in response to climate change. This alteration in breeding patterns has the potential to impact the ecology of northern lakes.
Researchers analyzed reproductive patterns of the three-spine stickleback fish over half a century in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region. The data, collected with support from the Moore Foundation, shows that stickleback breed earlier and more often each season in response to earlier spring ice breakup and longer ice-free summers.
“While the program’s monitoring was designed to track the commercially important sockeye salmon population, scientists also meticulously recorded every other fish present, including three-spine stickleback. Stickleback represent almost half of the fish found in Lake Aleknagik, with juvenile sockeye salmon nearly matching that percentage. Three-spine stickleback make up a large percentage of the fish communities in many northern lakes, so these findings could be relevant throughout the region.”
See more about this research from the University of Washington’s Michelle Ma: Climate change prompts Alaska fish to change breeding behavior.
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