Temperature and oxygen related ecophysiological traits of snow trout (Schizothorax richardsonii) are sensitive to seasonal changes in a Himalayan stream environment

Dendritic prioritization through spatial stream network modeling informs targeted management of Himalayan riverscapes under brown trout invasion

“…The aggressive competitive behaviour of brown trout is energy‐consuming, which turns out to be beneficial if the surroundings are warmer, and thus more productive (Finstad et al., 2011). Contrariwise, snow trout is inherently cool‐water species (Kamalam et al., 2019; Sehgal, 1999), evident with their distribution across low‐ to mid‐elevation tributaries across Himalaya (Sharma et al., 2021b). Understandably, lower elevation mainstems being optimal for both brown trout and native snow trout, we expected higher competitive interactions therein.…”

“…Although research ranging from its phylogenomics to ecology and life history has upsurged in the recent years (Kamalam et al, 2019;Regmi, 2019;Sharma et al, 2021aSharma et al, , 2021b, the effect of invasion on snow trout distribution stays inexplicit. This is concerning, as delineating invasion refugia for a species is rather challenging unless its distribution is well studied.…”

“…Categorized as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List (Vishwanath, 2010), snow trout currently faces serious threats owing to ongoing hydropower developments (Rajvanshi et al., 2012), flow alterations (Grumbine & Pandit, 2013), and as per recent evidences, by competitive interactions with invasive brown trout (Sharma et al., 2021a). Although research ranging from its phylogenomics to ecology and life history has upsurged in the recent years (Kamalam et al., 2019; Regmi, 2019; Sharma et al., 2021a, 2021b), the effect of invasion on snow trout distribution stays inexplicit. This is concerning, as delineating invasion refugia for a species is rather challenging unless its distribution is well studied.…”