So many choices! Coho salmon moms are choosy mothers!

From the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS):

So many choices! Coho salmon moms are choosy mothers!

Leading up to Mother's Day this Sunday, USGS is doing posts on our research on wildlife moms. Here's the first one: During their lifetimes, coho and other Pacific salmon are born in fresh water, migrate to sea, and return to their birth streams to breed. Breeding is the final step in the salmon life cycle and the mother decides where it will happen. USGS and BLM scientists found that female coho likely select breeding sites based on habitat features that provide protection for spawning adults, conditions for egg incubation, and nearby habitat for juveniles. Findings of this study have important implications for stream restoration design to benefit spawning by coho salmon, a threatened species in the study area.http://on.doi.gov/1ObkSew Bureau of Land Management

Picture: Coho salmon fins just above water surface. Female coho select breeding sties based on specific characteristics that offer protection and desired habitat for juveniles. Photo by Steven Clark, BLM