Humans aren’t the only ones suffering through unprecedented heatwaves in a warming climate. Consider the humble minnow.
Humans aren’t the only ones suffering through unprecedented heatwaves in a warming climate. Consider the humble minnow. These tiny fish represent the all-important base of the food chain in many freshwater ecosystems. And like all fish, minnows adjust their body temperature to match their surroundings. As climate change turns up the heat, could minnows cook?
A new University of Illinois study shows the fathead minnow, a ubiquitous prey fish in North American streams, can handle simulated heatwaves with surprisingly few nasty side effects.
“Fathead minnows are really common throughout North America and they’re important prey for a lot of charismatic sport fish anglers care about. So, learning how they handle heatwaves in this study gives us good insights into the potential fate of freshwater food webs under climate change,” says Cory Suski, professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at U of I and co-author on the study.
Read more at: University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences
