Evolutionary History, Habitat Disturbance Regimes, and Anthropogenic Changes: What Do These Mean for Resilience of Pacific Salmon Populations?

Because resilience of a biological system is a product of its evolutionary history, the historical template that describes the relationships between species and their dynamic habitats is an important point of reference. Habitats used by Pacific salmon have been quite variable throughout their evolut...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecology and society 2009-06, Vol.14 (1), p.3, Article art3
Main Authors: Waples, Robin S., Beechie, Tim, Pess, George R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
climate change
duration
Ecological genetics
Ecological life histories
Evolution
frequency
Habitat conservation
historical template
Human ecology
magnitude
Ocean fisheries
Oncorhynchus
Pacific Northwest
Pacific salmon
Population dynamics
Population ecology
predictability
Riverine habitats
Salmon
Salmonidae
Synthesis
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Summary:Because resilience of a biological system is a product of its evolutionary history, the historical template that describes the relationships between species and their dynamic habitats is an important point of reference. Habitats used by Pacific salmon have been quite variable throughout their evolutionary history, and these habitats can be characterized by four key attributes of disturbance regimes: frequency, magnitude, duration, and predictability. Over the past two centuries, major anthropogenic changes to salmon ecosystems have dramatically altered disturbance regimes that the species experience. To the extent that these disturbance regimes assume characteristics outside the range of the historical template, resilience of salmon populations might be compromised. We discuss anthropogenic changes that are particularly likely to compromise resilience of Pacific salmon and management actions that could help bring the current patterns of disturbance regimes more in line with the historical template.
ISSN:1708-3087
1708-3087
DOI:10.5751/ES-02626-140103