Salmon watershed archetypes: A clustering of cumulative pressures and climate change

Cumulative effects of land‐use change and climate change are leading to biodiversity decline globally. Spatial analyses of cumulative pressures that distill complexity and provide actionable information for the management of cumulative pressures on vulnerable species are needed. For example, many populations of Pacific salmon are struggling across their vast range because of their exposure to myriad land‐use and climate change symptoms. Understanding the spatial distribution of cumulative pressures is of importance for policy makers, watershed, fisheries and conservation managers to identify pathways forward for the diverse set of challenges facing salmon. We characterize the spatial patterns of multiple cumulative effect pressures, examine pressure co‐occurrence and observe how the spatial distribution and co‐occurrence of cumulative effect pressures links to salmon population status and overlaps with spawning habitats. To do so, we used 17 indicator variables representing forest disturbances, urbanization, mining, local geography and climate change in a k‐means unsupervised classification algorithm. Our results show eight distinct watershed archetypes (urban, mid‐elevation remote, coastal forestry, interior uppers, developed interior, mining interior, mountainous, remote coast) characterized by unique stressor profiles distributed throughout the study area. Certain species of Pacific salmon were disproportionately represented in specific watershed archetypes. Further, archetypes with greater disturbance contained fewer salmon populations assessed as good status and more populations with poor status. Practical implication . Salmon watershed archetypes can help inform the distinct suites of management actions required to mitigate the impacts of cumulative effects on these ecologically, culturally and economically important species.

• Publication year

  2026

• Venue

  Ecological Solutions and Evidence

• Publication date

  2026-01-01

• Fields of study

  Not labeled

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1002/2688-8319.70200
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• A Safe Operating Space for Salmon Watersheds Under Rapid Climate Change

  2025cited by this paper
• Why Aren’t Salmon Responding to Habitat Restoration in the Pacific Northwest?

  2023cited by this paper
• Climate Change 2022 – Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability

  2023cited by this paper
• Advances in remote sensing of freshwater fish habitat: A systematic review to identify current approaches, strengths and challenges

  2023cited by this paper
• Social and Ecological Impacts of Fire to Coastal Fisheries: A Study of the Kenai River Fishery (Alaska, USA)

  2023cited by this paper
• Trends in Chinook salmon spawner abundance and total run size highlight linkages between life history, geography and decline

  2023cited by this paper
• How does habitat restoration influence resilience of salmon populations to climate change?

  2023cited by this paper
• Testing for broad-scale relationships between freshwater habitat pressure indicators and Pacific salmon population trends

  2023cited by this paper
• How riparian and floodplain restoration modify the effects of increasing temperature on adult salmon spawner abundance in the Chehalis River, WA

  2022cited by this paper
• Effects of climate on salmonid productivity: A global meta‐analysis across freshwater ecosystems

  2022cited by this paper
• Fifty years of Landsat science and impacts

  2022cited by this paper
• A global climate model ensemble for downscaled monthly climate normals over North America

  2022cited by this paper
• Risks of mining to salmonid-bearing watersheds

  2022cited by this paper
• Marine and freshwater regime changes impact a community of migratory Pacific salmonids in decline

  2021cited by this paper
• Identifying the potential of anadromous salmonid habitat restoration with life cycle models

  2021cited by this paper
• Quantifying lost and inaccessible habitat for Pacific salmon in Canada’s Lower Fraser River

  2021cited by this paper
• A process-based assessment of landscape change and salmon habitat losses in the Chehalis River basin, USA

  2021cited by this paper
• Climate vulnerability assessment for Pacific salmon and steelhead in the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem

  2019cited by this paper
• Salmon in clear and present danger

  2019cited by this paper
• Geomorphic complexity and sensitivity in channels to fire and floods in mountain catchments

  2019cited by this paper
• A risk-based approach to cumulative effect assessments for marine management.

  2018cited by this paper
• Investigating cumulative effects across ecological scales

  2018cited by this paper
• Threats to biodiversity from cumulative human impacts in one of North America's last wildlife frontiers

  2018cited by this paper
• Linking knowledge to action: the role of boundary spanners in translating ecology

  2017cited by this paper
• Locally Downscaled and Spatially Customizable Climate Data for Historical and Future Periods for North America

  2016cited by this paper
• Effects of threat management interactions on conservation priorities

  2015cited by this paper
• Frontiers inEcology and the Environment Why do we map threats ? Linking threat mapping with actions to make better conservation decisions

  2015cited by this paper
• Advancing marine cumulative effects mapping: An update in Canada’s Pacific waters

  2015cited by this paper
• Impact of Fine Sediment on Egg-To-Fry Survival of Pacific Salmon: A Meta-Analysis of Published Studies

  2009cited by this paper
• A Global Map of Human Impact on Marine Ecosystems

  2008cited by this paper
• Global biodiversity scenarios for the year 2100.

  2000cited by this paper

• No citing papers are available for this paper.