Salmonids in the floods

You may have noticed we're experiencing a bit of wet weather at the moment in the UK with flooding heaping misery on people across the country.

Flooding on the River Avon at GWCT HQ in January 2014

Whilst the effects of flooding on humans are all too obvious, we are not the only species to be affected by floods. Fish inhabit the very rivers that are bursting their banks onto the surrounding towns and countryside. Unlike humans, however, fish have been experiencing floods in their native river habitats for hundreds or thousands of years. And because floods present a strong evolutionarily selective force (you adapt or you die), fish have adapted to survive and even thrive under certain flood conditions.

Salmonids are a good example of a group of fish species that have adapted to local flow regimes...

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