Sex that moves mountains: Spawning fish can influence river profiles

Sex that moves mountains: Spawning fish can influence river profiles

By Eric Sorensen

Source: WSU News

10/19/2017

It turns out that sex can move mountains.

A Washington State University researcher has found that the mating habits of salmon can alter the profile of stream beds, affecting the evolution of an entire watershed. His study is one of the first to quantitatively show that salmon can influence the shape of the land.

Alex Fremier, lead author of the study and associate professor in the WSU School of the Environment, said female salmon “fluff” soil and gravel on a river bottom as they prepare their nests, or redds. The stream gravel is then more easily removed by flooding, which opens the underlying bedrock to erosion.

“The salmon aren’t just moving sediment,” said Fremier. “They’re changing the character of the stream bed, so when there are floods, the gravel is more mobile.”

The study, “Sex that moves mountains: The influence of spawning fish on river profiles over geologic timescales,” appears in the journal Geomorphology.

Pend Oreille Lake

Salmon, Chinook

Continue...

News Id		Source	Stamp	country
3826	Texas man sets world record after catching rare hybrid fish	Fox News	2021-05-25	US
3827	Where did all the salmon go? An old orca has seen a lot of changes in more than 90 years	seattletimes	2021-05-30	US
3828	Non-kosher fish eaten in Jerusalem during early days of Judaism	newscientist	2014-09-25	IL
3829	Can Electric Fish Talk Like Obama?	theatlantic	2021-05-26	US
3830	How a Frenzy for Echinoderms Exposed and Entrenched Inequities in a Fishing Community	hakaimagazine	2021-05-27	PW
3831	12-year-old fisherman wins $15K for catching 26-pound fish in New York	foxnews	2021-05-18	US
3832	Blind cavefish ditches circadian rhythm to save energy	ABC	2014-09-25	NZ
3833	Chefs told to cut wild salmon from menus	heraldscotland	2014-09-23	UK
3834	China, US seek ways to benefit from carp	China Daily	2014-09-23	CN
3835	2 Marshall County men sentenced to 30 days in jail for cheating in bass-fishing tournament	al	2014-09-16	US
3836	Farmed salmon has 'more fat than pizza'	independent	2014-09-14	IE
3837	The Gulf of Alaska is unusually warm, and weird fish are showing up	washingtonpost	2014-09-15	US
3838	Salmon found in upper Elwha River for first time in more than 100 years	q13fox	2014-09-13	US
3839	Teenage 'Fish Whisperer' catches bass from the SEWER	dailymail	2014-08-29	UK
3840	To study evolution, scientists raise fish to walk on land	csmonitor	2014-08-28	US
3841	Experimental ‘fish fence’ used to fight Asian Carp invasion of Tennessee waters	wreg	2021-05-17	US
3842	Canadian researchers observe how fish species adapt to extreme environmental changes	ctvnews	2021-05-17	CA
3843	Man caught illegally fishing jailed for assaulting fisheries officer	corkbeo	2021-05-18	IE
3844	Exotic fish dumped by Coquitlam pet owners become invasive species	CBC News	2014-08-19	CA
3845	Carp-killing plan postponed at pond near Glasgow	greatfallstribune	2014-08-14	UK
3846	Joe Ludlow's 181-pound opah could be a world record	petethomasoutdoors	2014-08-13	MX
3847	Asian carp becomes animal feed for American Heartland Fish Products	CBC News	2014-08-14	US
3848	Seagrass fish feeding grounds 'lost like rain forests'	BBC News	2014-08-12	US
3849	Rare sighting of bizarre Mola mola fish caught after it surfaced in a Californian bay	dailymail	2014-08-08	UK
3850	California's giant sea bass making a comeback after near extinction	kcbx	2014-08-06	US

153 of [218 - pages.]