82 Percent of Native Freshwater Fish in California Likely to Become Extinct

A team of scientists from the Center for Watershed Sciences at the University of California, Davis, state that climate change threatens extinction for nearly 82 percent of California's native fish.

According to the study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, if the trends in climate change continue to occur, then within the next century, salmon and other native freshwater fish in California will become extinct, surrendering their habitats to the non-native fish.

The new study assessed how each freshwater fish in California is susceptible to climate change. Researchers estimated that within the next 100 years, these species would be extinct.

The researchers state that of the 121 native fish species, nearly 82 percent are more prone to becoming extinct, or their population will suffer as the climate changes occur. On the other hand, among the 50 non-native fish species, just 19 percent will 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. "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 such as salmon and trout are more likely to go extinct, as they require cold water. On the other hand, the non-native fish are expected to survive, though some of them will lose their aquatic habitats at the time of intense drought and low-flow during summers.

Few of the native fish to go extinct in California within 100 years are Klamath Mountains Province summer steelhead, McCloud River redband trout, Unarmored threespine stickleback, Shay Creek stickleback. Click here to see the order of vulnerability to extinction.