Session: : Ecology-Related Research Projects in Public Lands: Critical Resource Management and Career Advancement
INS 13-7 - Using intra-gravel water temperatures to model current sockeye salmon incubation and project incubation duration under future climatic variability in southwest Alaska
Surface water temperature is a proxy for the thermal regimes that salmon redds experience during incubation. However, this proxy may be inadequate for certain habitats in southwest Alaska. We explore differences in modelled incubation duration in southwest Alaska by comparing incubation timing estimated using surface and intra-gravel water temperatures across nine sites. Additionally, we project future intra-gravel water temperatures to investigate the potential impacts of climate warming on incubation. Our results suggest that the current incubation duration is compressed in some habitats, such as lake beaches, when modeled with intra-gravel water temperatures because of warmer temperatures in the winter.
