Global Synthesis of Climate Change Effects on Inland Fish

Climate change effects on inland fish manifest in non-linear and often confounding ways over varying ecoregions and time-scales. A comprehensive understanding of how climate change is and will impact inland fishes worldwide is key to sustainable management of this ecologically and economically important natural resource. Synthesis of projected and documented impacts of climate change on inland fishes globally can be useful to inform future research and management efforts. Since the mid-1980s, scientists have projected the effects of climate change on inland fish, and in more recent years, documentation of climate change impacts on fish has increased, albeit the number of documented impacts of climate change on inland fish remains low. We conducted an extensive, systematic literature review to identify both projected and documented examples of climate change impacts on fish globally. We categorized the documented studies into 6 groups based on the type of response variable studied and extracted the data to quantitatively analyze trends across species traits and thermal guilds. Providing current global trends in fish responses to climate change by ecological and thermal guild will help managers anticipate future changes in fish populations and develop more strategic management plans for individual species and groups.