Scientists have conducted a study which reveals that 82 percent of Californian native fish are currently facing threat of extinction owing to climatic changes.
A new study conducted by scientists from the Center for Watershed Sciences at the University of California, Davis, revealed that 82 percent of California native fish is currently facing the threat of extinction owing to climatic changes.
Speedy climatic changes have already led to the decline in population of fish species and the study reveals that approximately 121 native fish species, which account for 82 percent of California native fish, are on the brink of extinction owing to these climatic changes. However, only 19 percent of the 50 non-native California fish face a similar threat of extinction.
"If present trends continue, much of the unique California fish fauna will disappear and be replaced by alien fishes, such as carp, largemouth bass, fathead minnows and green sunfish," said Peter Moyle, a professor of fish biology at UC Davis who has been documenting the biology and status of California fish for the past 40 years. "Disappearing fish will include not only obscure species of minnows, suckers and pupfishes, but also coho salmon, most runs of steelhead trout and Chinook salmon, and Sacramento perch."
Fish like salmon and trout that require cold water are more likely to become extinct sooner, the study reveals. The study also suggests that most non-native fish species will survive, though they might lose their water habitat due to droughts and low-flow summer months.
The study also states that degradation caused by human activities and climatic changes has led to the decline in freshwater fishes across the globe. Though this has been a major conservation challenge, very little study has been conducted on the status of most fish species.
"These fish are part of the endemic flora and fauna that makes California such a special place," said Moyle. "As we lose these fishes, we lose their environments and are much poorer for it."
The list of 20 most endangered fish species as published by the University reads as below (in order of most vulnerable to climatic changes to least vulnerable)
1. Klamath Mountains Province summer steelhead
2. McCloud River redband trout
3. Unarmored threespine stickleback
4. Shay Creek stickleback
5. Delta smelt
6. Long Valley speckled dace
7. Central Valley late fall Chinook salmon
8. Kern River rainbow trout
9. Shoshone pupfish
10. Razorback sucker
11. Upper Klamath-Trinity spring Chinook salmon
12. Southern steelhead
13. Clear Lake hitch
14. Owens speckled dace
15. Northern California coast summer steelhead
16. Amargosa Canyon speckled dace
17. Central coast coho salmon
18. Southern Oregon Northern California coast coho salmon
19. Modoc sucker
20. Pink salmon
