2 ms·

Cant access it (ddos protection from so much new traffic), so maybe my question would be answered. I wonder what salmon would habitat the ne habitat and how lo

Cant access it (ddos protection from so much new traffic), so maybe my question would be answered. I wonder what salmon would habitat the ne habitat and how long it would take. Presumably salmon return to where they were born to spawn. So only the lost salmon would be able to populate the new habitat.

Turing_Machine 5y ago
They return to the stream they grew up in before they went to sea, not necessarily the one where the eggs were hatched. It's very common to stock streams with fry from a hatchery located somewhere else. Salmon generally spend a year or more (much more, in some species) in fresh water before migrating to the ocean. That's plenty of time for them to imprint on the "foster stream" -- they'll return to it, no problem.
bc_skier 5y ago
It generally happens pretty quickly. Salmon seem to all have a "stray rate", where some percent will stray from their natal river on their spawning run. It makes sense, as it allows for colonization of new habitat, or to revive extinct populations. A lot of the current salmon habitat from Washington north was under glaciers not too long ago. So they have been doing this exact thing for millennia. Straying is partly why you can see salmon spawning above former dam sites, even shortly after removal. It's also why you will occasionally see salmon in a stream with no documented population (sockeye salmon on the oregon coast for example). As for how long it takes for a population to take hold I'm not sure. But I have read about salmon populations getting completely wiped out by landslides and recovering in 50 years or so, including the same adaptations (for example larger bodies for navigating a steep gorge) that the extinct population held. So potentially pretty quickly in the grand scheme of things.

2 ms·

Cant access it (ddos protection from so much new traffic), so maybe my question would be answered. I wonder what salmon would habitat the ne habitat and how lo

by loonster 5y ago

Turing_Machine 5y ago
They return to the stream they grew up in before they went to sea, not necessarily the one where the eggs were hatched. It's very common to stock streams with fry from a hatchery located somewhere else. Salmon generally spend a year or more (much more, in some species) in fresh water before migrating to the ocean. That's plenty of time for them to imprint on the "foster stream" -- they'll return to it, no problem.
bc_skier 5y ago
It generally happens pretty quickly. Salmon seem to all have a "stray rate", where some percent will stray from their natal river on their spawning run. It makes sense, as it allows for colonization of new habitat, or to revive extinct populations. A lot of the current salmon habitat from Washington north was under glaciers not too long ago. So they have been doing this exact thing for millennia. Straying is partly why you can see salmon spawning above former dam sites, even shortly after removal. It's also why you will occasionally see salmon in a stream with no documented population (sockeye salmon on the oregon coast for example). As for how long it takes for a population to take hold I'm not sure. But I have read about salmon populations getting completely wiped out by landslides and recovering in 50 years or so, including the same adaptations (for example larger bodies for navigating a steep gorge) that the extinct population held. So potentially pretty quickly in the grand scheme of things.