Study: Climate change a death knell for most Californian fish [View all]

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http://grist.org/news/climate-change-a-death-knell-for-most-californian-fish/

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Lead researcher Peter Moyle studying native fish in the Sierra Nevada.

Cold-water-loving fish will find California’s rivers and streams to be increasingly inhospitable — and deadly.

A study published in the online journal PLOS ONE finds that rising water temperatures may drive many of the state’s native species extinct, while helping invasive fish flourish. From the study:

Most native fishes will suffer population declines and become more restricted in their distributions; some will likely be driven to extinction. Fishes requiring cold water [less than 72 degrees] are particularly likely to go extinct. In contrast, most alien fishes will thrive, with some species increasing in abundance and range.


From The Sacramento Bee:

The peer-reviewed study by fishery experts at UC Davis created a framework to measure how vulnerable numerous species are to climate change. It assesses habitat conditions, climate change projections and temperature sensitivity for the 121 native and 50 nonnative fish species that inhabit California.