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Mean Annual Discharge and Atlantic Salmon

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Species Common Name
Atlantic Salmon
Latin Name (Genus species)
Salmo salar
Stressor Name
Flow
Specific Stressor Metric
Mean Annual Discharge (MAD)
Stressor Units
%
Vital Rate (Process)
Survival

Life Stage

Season
Winter
Geography
Catamaran Brook, NB, Canada
Detailed SR Function Description
Final curve was derived from a linear regression.

System capacity was derived from the 11 years for which egg survival data were available. How egg survival data was gathered was not found in the original source.
To normalize and rescale each ecological response, each value was scaled by the maximum ecological response observed in the study such that mean habitat capacity percentage (normalized response) = response / maximum ecological response observed.
Implicit pathway of effect: Atlantic salmon egg survival is positively associated with higher average winter discharge.
Function Derivation
Observational data. Final curve was derived from linear regression.
Transferability of Function
Appropriate for winter stream flow impacts on Atlantic Salmon egg survival. General transferability to other salmon stocks in unclear, but likely appropriate for other autumn-spawning salmonids (i.e., regions with similar hydrology to the Catamaran Brook).
The relationship may be unreliable if extrapolated to a flow range outside the original data (see the Average Salmonid flow-ecology SR function entry based on Rosenfeld and Enright (2025) for a more generalizable function across a wider range of flows).
Source of stressor Data
The winter streamflow data (discharge) for Catamaran Brook was collected using a streamflow gauging station located in the mid-basin. See methods of Cunjack et al. 2013 for details.
Data was then standardized by dividing absolute flow by MAD to achieve %MAD values (see Rosenfeld & Enright 2024). Such standardization allows for comparison of flow metrics across a wide range of stream sizes (see Rosenfeld et al. 2017).
Function Type
continuous
Stressor Scale
linear
References Cited
Cunjak, R.A., Linnansaari, T., and Caissie, D. 2013. The complex interaction of ecology and
hydrology in a small catchment: a salmon's perspective. Hydrol. Process. 27: 741-749.
Images
Stressor Response csv data
Data_Atlantic_Flow_Catamaran_Egg_0.csv (374 bytes)
PERCENT_MAD Mean System Capacity (%) SD low.limit up.limit
24.76323077 18.6829523 0 0 100
25.21738462 19.0417338 0 0 100
33.51446154 25.5964246 0 0 100
54.044 41.81476 0 0 100
58.02938462 44.9632138 0 0 100
60.75584615 47.1171185 0 0 100
72.29323077 56.2316523 0 0 100
73.05092308 56.8302292 0 0 100
74.59430769 58.0495031 0 0 100
85.76938462 66.8778138 0 0 100

Stressor Response Chart

Mean Response
±1 Standard Deviation
Upper/Lower Limits
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