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- Title
Potential Effects of Global Warming on Native Fishes of the Southern Great Plains and the Southwest.
- Authors
Matthews, William J.; Zimmerman, Earl G.
- Abstract
Fish in streams of the southern Great Plains and southwestern North America may be particularly vulnerable to extirpation or extinction due to global warming. Streams of this region already have some of the hottest free-flowing water on earth (summer maxima of 38-40°C), and even now fish live at times very near their lethal thermal limits. Unlike many terrestrial and marine organisms or fishes of some rivers, fishes in these prairie stream systems cannot migrate northward to cooler temperatures in the event of global warming. If warming of 3-4°C occurs, a substantial number of species endemic to this region could face extinction unless they adapt behaviorally or genetically for thermal increases. Existing evidence suggests little likelihood of successful behavioral adjustments. Data on thermal tolerance of local populations provide conflicting evidence: one widespread species of the Great Plains shows no difference in thermal tolerance across its range, whereas another shows adaptation to environmental temperatures at the local level. Because of the evolutionarily brief time predicted for global warming, it is unlikely that genetic options can arise rapidly enough through mutation to allow species to cope with hotter environments. Species that survive major increases in environmental temperature will likely be ones with adequate existing genetic variation to allow survival and selection of at least some individuals. Overall, the outlook for native fishes of the Great Plains and southwest is bleak, if predicted temperature increases occur.
- Publication
Fisheries, 1990, Vol 15, Issue 6, p26
- ISSN
0363-2415
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1577/1548-8446(1990)015<0026:PEOGWO>2.0.CO;2