Abstract
Understanding the variation in fish growth responses to climate change across regions is essential for predicting fish population dynamics and relevant ecological consequences on a large scale. Despite the demonstrated sensitivity of fish growth responses to climate change on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), the geographical variations in these responses remain unclear. This study analyzed the growth responses of schizothoracine fish to environmental variables in four geographically distinct QTP lakes (Qinghai Lake, Yamdrok Lake, Pangong Tso, and Co Nag) using otolith biochronologies and hierarchical mixed-effects modeling and quantified the relative contributions of intrinsic and extrinsic factors to fish growth variations. Overall, we found that the optimal model accounted for 82% of the annual growth variability. Age variables were the intrinsic factors primarily influencing fish growth (significant and negative, accounting for 92% of the explained variability), followed by the influence of extrinsic environmental factors at the local (i.e., air temperature and precipitation, significant and positive, 5%), global (i.e., sea surface temperature [SST], significant and negative, 2%), and regional (i.e., monsoon intensity, nonsignificant and negative, 0.4%) scales. At the lake level, the influences of environmental factors on fish growth aligned with overall results but showed varied contributions. Therefore, local factors primarily influence fish growth responses, emphasizing that geographical variations in fish responses to climate change should be accounted for in relevant population predictions. This study provides valuable insights into the complex interactions between fish growth and multi-scale environmental changes and offers scientific support for ecosystem management under climate change on the QTP.
Published Version
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