Skip to main content
Dryad

Freshwater life-cycle timing of Pacific salmon and steelhead (Oncorhynchus spp.) in Canada

Data files

Jan 15, 2025 version files 1.44 MB

Abstract

Understanding species’ phenology and distribution is essential for mitigating anthropogenic disturbances and understanding climate change vulnerability. Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) have complex life cycles that span freshwater and marine environments and unfold over many thousands of kilometers. Currently, there is no central repository of life-cycle timing for unique salmon and steelhead populations throughout their Canadian range. We have compiled a dataset of timing for key freshwater life-cycle events - fry migration from incubation to rearing grounds, juvenile migration from rearing grounds to the ocean, adult entry into rivers, and spawning - for salmon and steelhead trout from British Columbia and the Yukon, Canada. We summarize patterns across species and populations to improve understanding of when species are in different freshwater habitats but found significant data gaps in remote regions that may challenge environmental planning. The data and insight we provide allow for more detailed examination of how salmon and steelhead populations will be exposed to future climate changes and can be used to inform adaptive management of fisheries and mitigation during human development.