Climate change affects fish reproductive phenology in plateau area

The Tibetan Plateau has the richest water resources in Asia, but is highly affected by global climate change. Intensified water cycling has increasingly affected the aquatic environment since the 1980s. Glacial retreat, permafrost degradation, and changes in the precipitation regime have resulted in lake expansion and river discharge changes across the whole region. However, it is largely unknown how aquatic ecosystems here respond to climate change.

The Biological Invasion and Adaptive Evolution research group at the Chinese Academy of Sciences recently studied how the reproductive phenology of Gymnocypris selincuoensis, an endemic fish in Lake Selicuo in the Tibetan Plateau, is associated with climate changes. Results showed that the reproductive phenology of G. selincuoensis radically changed during the 1970s and 2000s. The gowing season of G. selincuoensis has been increased by 17 days at a rate of three days per decade, on average.

In addition, the reproductive phenology of G. selincuoensis was strongly advanced in the spring during the 1970s and 1990s, while the increased growing season length in the 2000s was mainly due to a delayed onset of winter. The methods developed in this study provide more application opportunities in studying how fish and other aquatic organism respond to climate change. The research was published online in the journal Global Change Biology.

More information:
Juan Tao et al, Strong evidence for changing fish reproductive phenology under climate warming on the Tibetan Plateau, Global Change Biology (2018). DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14050

Provided by Chinese Academy of Sciences