Líffræðifélag Íslands - biologia.is
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2021

Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster E90

Locating and validating salmonid spawning sites using drones, scuba diving and genetics

Höfundar / Authors: Lieke Ponsioen (1), Benjamin D. Hennig (1), Jónína H. Ólafsdóttir (2), Marcos G. Lagunas (1), Marina de la Cámara (1), Kalina H. Kapralova (1)

Starfsvettvangur / Affiliations: 1. University of Iceland, 2. Marine and Freshwater Research Institute

Kynnir / Presenter: Lieke Ponsioen

Climate regimes are expected to change more dramatically at higher latitudes over the next few decades and Iceland will undoubtedly be affected. The surface temperature of Thingvallavatn has been rising since the 1960s and the lake has further been impacted by various anthropogenic factors which could have dire consequences for its two salmonid residents, Arctic charr and brown trout. Both species require not only stable low temperatures for their successful embryonic development but also a flow of oxygen-rich surface or groundwater and specific substrate characteristics that limit the number of available spawning sites. Locating, monitoring, and preserving these salmonid spawning areas are thus essential for their very existence. The spawning grounds are often located in streams and shallow areas of lakes which make them detectable from the air. Here, we mapped the spawning grounds of Svínanes, located on the Eastern side of Thingvallavatn, using a UAV (drone) and a remote sensing protocol. The spawning grounds were then verified to be used by pelagic Arctic charr by performing an exploratory dive, collecting embryos, and genotyping them using a ddRADseq method. The remote sensing protocol we developed has potential to be scaled to other freshwater ecosystems and salmonid species to assess the impact of anthropogenic stressors on a wider scale and to develop monitoring procedures that enable the long-term observations of the changes that occur in highly fragile environments.