Atlantic salmon become thermally stressed when water temperatures exceed 23°C. To alleviate this stress, they behaviourally thermoregulate by moving to patches of cold water, often forming large aggregations. These patches are known as thermal refuges. Given the consensus that climate change will increase temperatures in Atlantic salmon catchments, thermal refuges will become increasingly important in minimising summer mortalities. While the behaviour of salmonids within thermal refuges is fairly well understood, less is known about their main stem movement in search of thermal refuges or its thermal and temporal cues. We detail the results of a PIT telemetry study to investigate the main stem movement behaviour of thermally stressed Atlantic salmon parr in a temperature-impacted river. PIT antennas placed around two thermal refuges and at the upstream and downstream limits of their surrounding reach were used to record the movement of salmonids during a heatwave. We observed parr movement at the upstream and downstream antennas 135 min prior to the occurrence of the midpoint of aggregations in the thermal refuges, indicating that Atlantic salmon parr make reach-scale movements in search of cool water prior to aggregating. Logistic regression showed that the number of degree hours >28°C predicted the occurrence of main stem movement with a good degree of accuracy, indicating that this temperature represents a fundamental threshold causing Atlantic salmon parr to move towards cool water. Such data could be instrumental in allowing river managers to place limits on human activity within rivers, allowing salmon populations time to recover following heat stress events.

River temperatures often surpass the thermal limits of juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Using thermal monitoring data to replicate a natural heat event, we investigated how cooler nighttime temperatures would affect how juvenile salmon cope with several days of heat cycling.

Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and magnitude of extreme thermal events in rivers. The Little Southwest Miramichi River (LSWM) and the Ouelle River (OR) are two Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) rivers located in eastern Canada, where in recent years, water temperatures have exceeded known thermal limits (~23°C). Once temperature surpasses this threshold, juvenile salmon exploit thermal heterogeneity to behaviourally thermoregulate, forming aggregations in coolwater refuges. This study aimed to determine whether the behavioural thermoregulation response is universal across rivers, arising from common thermal cues. We detailed the temperature and discharge patterns of two geographically distinct rivers from 2010 to 2012 and compared these with aggregation onset temperature. PIT telemetry and snorkelling were used to confirm the presence of aggregations. Mean daily maximum temperature in 2010 was significantly greater in the OR versus the LSWM (p = 0.005), but not in other years (p = 0.090–0.353). Aggregations occurred on 14 and 9 occasions in the OR and LSWM respectively. Temperature at onset of aggregation was significantly greater in the OR (Tonset = 28.3°C) than in the LSWM (Tonset = 27.3°C; p = 0.049). Logistic regression models varied by river and were able to predict the probability of aggregation based on the preceding number of hours >23°C (R2 = 0.61 & 0.65; P50 = 27.4°C & 28.9°C; in the OR and LSWM respectively). These results imply the preceding local thermal regime may influence behaviour and indicate a degree of phenotypic plasticity, illustrating a need for localised management strategies.

The role of temperature on biological activities and the correspondent exponential relationship with temperature has been known for over a century. However, lacking to date is knowledge relating to (a) the recovery of ectotherms subjected to extreme temperatures in the wild, and (b) the effects repeated extreme temperatures have on the temperatures that induce behavioural thermoregulation (aggregations). We examined these questions by testing the hypothesis that thermal thresholds which initiate aggregations in juvenile Atlantic salmon (AS) (Salmo salar) are not static, but are temporally dynamic across a summer and follow a hysteresis loop. To test our hypothesis, we deployed custom-made underwater camera (UWC) systems in known AS thermal refuges to observe the timing of aggregation events in a natural system and used these data to develop and test models that predict the temperatures that induce thermal aggregations. Consistent with our hypothesis our UWC observations revealed a range of aggregation onset temperatures (AOT) ranging from 24.2°C to 27.1°C, thus confirming our hypothesis that AOTs are dynamic across summer. Our models suggest it take ~ 11 days of non-thermally taxing temperatures for the AOT to rebound in the study river. Conversely, we found that as the frequency of events increased, the AOT declined, from 27.1°C to 24.2°C. Integrating both model components led to more robust model performance. Further, when these models were tested against an independent data set from the same river, the results remained robust. Our findings illustrate the complexity underlying behavioural thermoregulation in AS—a complexity that most likely extends to other salmonids. The frequency of extreme heat events is predicted to increase, and this has the capacity to decrease AOT thresholds in AS, ultimately reducing their resilience to extreme temperature events.

Summer water temperatures within many temperate rivers regularly surpass the incipient lethal temperature for juvenile Atlantic salmon (c. 27°C), causing widescale abandonment of territory in favour of areas of cooler water (thermal refuges). This study aims to highlight the influence of thermal refuges on river‐scale abundance patterns. That is, do salmon parr adjust their distribution over time according to proximity to thermal refuges? Twelve reaches (seven reference: five refuge) were chosen along a 17‐km section of the Little Southwest Miramichi River in Canada. Reaches were sampled throughout the 2011 and 2012 summer periods; high temperature events were recorded during summer 2012 but not summer 2011. Multivariate principal component analyses indicated no discernible difference in habitat characteristics between the reach‐types under normal thermal conditions. However, reaches containing a thermal refuge had a significant increase in relative abundance of parr immediately after a series of high temperature events (water temperature >26°C) in 2012 (p = 0.034). This increase in relative abundance in refuge reaches was not present during the summer of 2011 when no temperature events occurred (p = 0.088), prior to the event of 2012 (p = 0.999), or at the late autumn survey following the 2012 event (p = 0.999). Difference in temperature between refuge and mainstem reaches significantly influenced the suitability of a tributary as a thermal refuge habitat (R2 = 0.84), with preference shown for cooler refuges. River‐wide thermal heterogeneity therefore plays a critical role in survival of juvenile salmon throughout summer months and is likely to become necessary under future climate change scenarios.