Graduate student Annelise Del Rio published her first study investigating the effects of hypoxia (low dissolved oxygen) and warming on Chinook salmon development and physiology in the journal Conservation Physiology. She found that hypoxia reduced salmon survival and growth, but improved tolerance to acute stressors. Hypoxia and warming had significant interactions suggesting both factors are important to consider for water management strategies that target salmon survival. Her work continues to investigate the effects of warming and hypoxia on early life stage salmon.
Recent PhD graduate Brittany Davis published a study she conducted as a Delta Science Fellow in the journal Conservation Physiology . She studied the physiological responses of the native Delta Smelt and non-native Mississippi Silverside and Largemouth Bass to serial increases in salinity and temperature as single and combined stressors. She found that non-native species had consistently higher thermal tolerances than the native smelt, suggesting non-native species may do better in warm San Francisco Estuary habitats while Delta smelt populations may be negatively impacted with warming water. Congratulations Britt!
