Integrating water temperature in a general model of salmon habitat

This project will help improve a modelling method of Atlantic salmon habitat, specifically for parr nurseries. Suggested improvement involves adding an essential variable for characterizing these habitats: instream water temperature. Habitat preferences modelling is usually done with locally defined curves by sampling or with the advice of a limited number of experts. To this date, the developed model does not include water temperature. This project will develop groups of thermal preferences for parr. This will be done by coding advice from as many salmon experts as possible (more than twenty) with a fuzzy logic method already implemented in the INRS-ETE model to determine habitat preferences. The resulting thermal preferences and model will be partially validated on two Quebec rivers: Ouelle (relatively warm) and Ste-Marguerite (temperate).

Contact: André St-Hilaire, 418-654-3113, Andre.St-Hilaire@ete.inrs.ca