The Role of Ecological Research In the Future of Salmonid Conservation

Salmon and trout have long been among the animal species most valued by humankind, providing food, recreation, and myriad ecosystem services.  Because of strong homing instincts and fine-scale site fidelity for spawning, salmonid populations often become reproductively isolated, leading to adaptations to local environmental conditions.  This diversity of locally-adapted populations was recently a cover story in Nature, where it was described as having a “portfolio effect”, dampening the variance in ecosystem services provided by salmon populations.  Native salmonids worldwide have declined drastically over the past 200 years, however, and innumerable locally-adapted populations have already been extirpated.  This is particularly true for migratory salmonids, because they require a diversity of habitats to complete their lifecycle, from small streams to large rivers, lakes, and seas.  In this presentation I will discuss how ecological research, past and future, can contribute to conserving the remaining diversity of salmon and trout.  I use case studies of successes and failures from both Atlantic and Pacific salmonids to argue that researchers must further develop an integrated approach that accounts for life history, ecology, and local adaptation.  I show how the growing number of salmonid conservation organizations are already integrating ecological research with conservation, and I conclude with a prospectus wherein I discuss how ecologists can further improve efforts to conserve the remaining diversity of native salmonids.