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Impact of the 1998 El Niño event on a Lake Charr, Salvelinus Namaycush, Population Recovering from Acidification

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Abstract

This study provides a case history of the impact of the 1998 El Ni no event on a lake charr population in a shallow (maximum depth = 13 m) lake in the southern boreal shield ecozone of Ontario. The lake lost its native charr population by acidification from air-borne pollutants in the 1950–1960s. A naturally reproducing population was re-established through hatchery stocking after the water quality improved in the 1980s. The warm years triggered by the El Ni no event exposed fish to bottom water temperatures of 20°C for several weeks and resulted in the loss of all hatchery-reared juveniles that were released in 1998. A few adults survived the warm years by making use of cold water refuge areas (groundwater seepage). This study shows how climate change can eliminate charr populations at the margins of their range. It also illustrates the potential confounding effects of climate warming on aquatic ecosystems already subject to other stressors.

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  1. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Cooperative Freshwater Ecology Unit, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, P3E 2C6, Canada

    John M. Gunn

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  1. John M. Gunn
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Gunn, J.M. Impact of the 1998 El Niño event on a Lake Charr, Salvelinus Namaycush, Population Recovering from Acidification. Environmental Biology of Fishes 64, 343–351 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016058606770

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