Freshwater life-cycle timing of Pacific salmon and steelhead (Oncorhynchus spp.) in Canada

Understanding species’ phenology and distribution is essential for mitigating anthropogenic disturbances and understanding climate change vulnerability. Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) have complex life cycles that span freshwater and marine environments and unfold over many thousands of kilometers. Currently, there is no central repository of life-cycle timing for unique salmon and steelhead populations throughout their Canadian range. We have compiled a dataset of timing for key freshwater life-cycle events - fry migration from incubation to rearing grounds, juvenile migration from rearing grounds to the ocean, adult entry into rivers, and spawning - for salmon and steelhead trout from British Columbia and the Yukon, Canada. We summarize patterns across species and populations to improve understanding of when species are in different freshwater habitats but found significant data gaps in remote regions that may challenge environmental planning. The data and insight we provide allow..., The life cycle events we estimated are:
 
1) fry migration- the movement of fry from the gravel to freshwater rearing grounds
 
2) ocean entry- juvenile migration into the marine environment - adjusted for downstream migration distance given average swim speeds where rearing locations (and points of data collection) are >~40km from the ocean.
 
3) adult run timing – the entrance of returning adults into freshwater.
 
4) spawning 
 
For each of these life cycle events, we have estimated the start and end of the timing window as the 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles of the cumulative timing from available data for the CU.
 
Fry migration and ocean entry timing were determined through a literature review and compilation of historic data. Migration data were typically collected using rotary screw traps, incline plane traps, and fyke nets. Adult run timing was determined from reports of catch (e.g., Tyee test fishery; Albion fishery) assigned to CUs based on genetic stock identification. Spawn..., , # Freshwater life-cycle timing of Pacific salmon and steelhead (Oncorhynchus spp.) in Canada

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.wm37pvmwx](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.wm37pvmwx)

### Summary

We have estimated the timing of four key life cycle events for Conservation Units (CUs) of five Pacific salmon species and steelhead trout (1) .

### File Descriptions:

1Life cycle timing by reference.xlsx - This file documents the individual references from which data was extracted, as well as the raw data. Some reports document multiple years, while others are annual reports. Data were extracted from each referenced report. To be included, the observation period must span the majority of the migratory period, there must be enough salmon to establish a migration timing window estimate.

2Life cycle timing by location - This file documents data summarized by each location where observations occured. Data is summarized from the Life_cycle_timing_by_reference document. Here each location is listed wi...