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In freshwater ecosystems, water temperature and discharge are two intrinsically associated triggers of key events in the life cycle of aquatic organisms such as the migration of diadromous fishes. However, global changes have already profoundly altered the thermal and hydrological regimes of rivers, affecting the timing of fish migration as well as the environmental conditions under which it occurs. In this study, we focused on Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), an iconic diadromous species whose individuals migrate between marine nursery areas and continental spawning grounds. An innovative multivariate method was developed to analyse long-term datasets of daily water temperature, discharge and both salmon juvenile downstream and adult upstream migrations in three French rivers (the Bresle, Oir and Nivelle rivers). While all three rivers have gradually warmed over the last 35 years, changes in discharge have been very heterogeneous. Juveniles more frequently used warmer temperatures to migrate. Adults migrating a few weeks before spawning more frequently used warm temperatures associated with high discharges. This has already led to modifications in preferential niches of both life stages and suggests a potential mismatch between these populations' ecological preference and changes in their local environment due to global change.

International audience; Brown trout Salmo trutta alevins were maintained at 8 and 11∘ C at three conditions over a 9 day period from yolk sac exhaustion: fed ad libitum, starved or fed ad libitum after starvation. Whole-body gene expressions for proteins involved in energymetabolism and the two primary proteolytic pathways were assessed. This study is the first to show an over-expression of proteasome and autophagy-related genes in young stages of salmonids, particularly at 11∘ C.

Global Climate Change will increase precipitations in the temperate and Northern coast of Europe during winter and spring. In riverine ecosystems, precipitations affect strongly the discharge of running waters and, thus, it is predicted that streams will face more severe floods. Additionally, air and water temperature will increase all over the world. These new environmental conditions can alter the phenology of species and predator/prey interactions. Newborns of brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) start their exogenous feeding in March/April. This stage is a critical step as individuals undergo huge physiological and behavioral changes. To allow a good development and a high survival rate, preys have to be abundant, particularly during early ontogenesis when fish are most vulnerable to food scarcity and predation. In this thesis, experiments in controlled-environment were conducted to estimate the effect of water velocity on the drift of preferred prey taxa for salmonids and to understand the effect of temperature on the metabolism of alevins facing starvation. Experiments in semi-natural conditions were set up to better understand the effects of floods on invertebrate communities and on survival, behavior and growth of first-feeding alevins. Our data support that floods affect trout differently depending on when they start feeding (early or late spring) and the availability of prey in their environment; Le changement climatique devrait induire une augmentation des précipitations pendant l'hiver et le printemps dans les régions tempérées et la côte nord de l'Europe. Dans les écosystèmes fluviaux, les précipitations affectent fortement le débit des eaux courantes et les rivières subiront des crues plus sévères. En outre, la température de l'air et de l'eau augmenteront à travers le monde. Ces nouvelles conditions environnementales vont avoir des conséquences sur la phénologie des espèces et les interactions prédateurs/proies. Les jeunes truites fario (Salmo trutta L.) commencent leur alimentation exogène en mars/avril. Cette étape critique de leur cycle de vie induit d’importants changements aussi bien physiologiques que comportementaux. Pour permettre un bon développement des individus et un taux de survie élevé, les proies doivent être disponibles et abondantes, en particulier à ce moment de l’ontogénèse où les juvéniles sont vulnérables au manque de nourriture et à la prédation. Des expériences en milieux contrôlés ont été menées pour quantifier la sensibilité à la dérive de trois espèces d’invertébrés couramment consommées par les salmonidés en fonction de différentes modalités de vitesses de courant et pour évaluer l’effet de la température sur le métabolisme d’alevins en situation de jeûne. Des expériences en milieu semi-naturel ont été mises en place pour mieux comprendre les effets d’une crue sur la communauté d’invertébrés et sur la survie, le comportement et la croissance des alevins en première alimentation. Il apparaît que la crue impacte différemment les truites en fonction du moment de la saison auquel elles commencent à s’alimenter (au début ou à la fin du printemps) et de la productivité du système.

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