Climate change vulnerability assessment framework to support the conservation of Atlantic salmon in Rivers

Vulnerability of Atlantic salmon to climate change has been assessed on a provincial scale in Newfoundland and Labrador [19,20]. The study found that Atlantic salmon have the highest exposure and sensitivity to climate change with the lowest adaptive capacity [19]. Despite this broad regional finding, there exists no formal vulnerability assessment for this species that can be used to design spatially specific adaptation options. Adaptive options required to mitigate climate change impacts must be based on spatially explicit assessment of geographic patterns in exposure, trait sensitivities and adaptive capacity. The objective of the research is to adapt the National Marine Fisheries Service climate change vulnerability assessment framework (VAF) [18] to determine vulnerability of wild Atlantic salmon in Atlantic Canada. The outcome of the project is a spatial explicit vulnerability assessment framework that informs the design of adaptive options at the river specific level in conjunction with stakeholders.

Project Contact:             Dr. Michael van Zyll de Jong     mvan3@unb.ca    506 608 2732