Thermal ecology of juvenile steelhead in a warm-water environment

How salmonids adjust to the cost of chronic exposure to warm water in nature, particularly in habitats where areas of cold water are unavailable, is largely unknown. In the hot dry climate of southern California, oversummering juvenile steelhead, Oncorhynchus mykiss, can experience a continual warm-water environment. Studies were performed in three streams (34 degrees N) during the summers of 2002-2004 to assess how steelhead (10-28 cm total length) exploit the thermal environment and to develop an understanding of how existing preference and heat tolerance information reported for the species relate to the actual temperatures the local population experiences. Analyses of achievable body temperatures, an index of observed body temperatures, and behavioral time budgets, indicate steelhead did not behaviorally thermoregulate. Findings from associated field surveys suggest areas of cold water were not available. Steelhead held focal points at temperatures (17.4-24.8 degrees C) that were at times higher than the temperature preferences and heat tolerances reported for the species. Oversurnmering juvenile steelhead accept an elevated body temperature and remain active and forage throughout the day, apparently as a means for coping with warm water at the southern extent of their range. The relatively high body temperatures that steelhead accept appear to represent a compromise in exchange for maintaining an expanded geographic (latitudinal) range. (c) Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2006