Hypoxia tolerance of salmonids above and below culverts

The overall focus of this study is to assess the hypoxia tolerance of salmonids above and below culverts, which are human-made structures that allow water to flow under roads. However, poorly designed culverts can cause habitat fragmentation and negatively impact water temperature and oxygen levels. Gespe’gewa’gi Institute of Natural Understanding (GINU) is creating a robust, long-term dataset that monitors culverts for various biological and environmental parameters among rivers within the Restigouche watershed, providing an opportunity for a two-eyed-seeing approach that focuses on the physiological response of native fish to thermal and hypoxic stress. Our objective is to establish a baseline assessment of the hypoxia tolerance of salmonids across ten study sites located above and below culverts within the Restigouche Watershed. We will achieve this objective by measuring the hypoxia tolerance by conducting hypoxia challenge tests (HCT). These insights will elucidate the relative hypoxia tolerance among sites, influenced by physiological adaptations and plasticity in response to changing conditions. This research offers insight into fish’s resilience and adaptability to environmental change by investigating physiological and behavioural responses to hypoxic stressors.

Faculty Supervisor:

Charles Sacobie

Student:

Partner:

Gespe’gewa’gi Institute of Natural Understanding

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Agriculture; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of New Brunswick

Program: