Global Analysis of Trends in Projected and Documented Effects of Climate Change on Inland Fish
Inland fish populations are a crucial resource to humans and communities around the world. Recreational fishing throughout the United States, for example, provides important revenue to local and state economies; globally, inland fisheries are a vital food source for billions of people. Warming temperatures and changing precipitation patterns, however, are already causing significant changes to fish communities worldwide. Since the mid-1980s, scientists have projected the effects of climate change on inland fish, and in more recent years, documentation of impacts has increased. However, the number of documented impacts of climate change on inland fish remains low. A comprehensive understanding of how climate change is and will impact inland fish worldwide is needed to further research efforts and to inform decisions related to management of this ecologically and economically important natural resource. To help address this informational need, the project team conducted an extensive, systematic literature review to identify examples of both projected and documented effects of climate change on fish globally. The researchers categorized the documented studies into 6 groups based on the type of response variable studied (i.e., demography, phenology, distribution, etc.), and used the associated data to quantitatively analyze trends across species and locations. Providing a synthesis of current global trends in fish responses to climate change will help resource managers anticipate future changes in fish populations and develop more strategic management plans for individual species and groups.