Part 1: The salmon life cycle
1. Egg
10. Carcass
a. Freshwater River
b. varies
c. Salmon dies
after spawning
then add nutrients
to river
9. Kelt
a. freshwater
b. hours-week
c. Females cover eggs then
defend them until death. Males
leave to find a new mate.
8. Spawning
a. Nest (freshwater)
b. several days
c. Females make nest then
wait for male to ward off
competitors. Male and female
dance then make gapes in their
mouths to resist the current.
Eggs and sperm are then
deposited in the nest.
a. Shallow Gravel Beds
2. Alevin
b. 50+ days
a. freshwater gravel
c. Reddish-orange eggs
b. 12+ weeks
c. Orange yolk sac
The Life Cycle of
Wild Salmon 3. Juvenile
a. Gravel
b. 4 months – 2 years
c. Length of a fir
needle, dark bars on
side
DIRECTIONS: As you read The Journey
of Pacific Wild Salmon (Student Handout
1A), complete the chart with the following
information.
4. Smolt
a. Nutrient-rich sediment
1. Stage
a. Location b. Few days – few months
b. Time at stage (approx.) 5. Ocean-Faring Adult
c. Distinct characteristics a.
c. Ocean
Larger (Saltwater)
Scales, silver color,
longer and fork shaped tail.
b. 1 – 5 years
c. two-tone coloring; grow
rapidly
 6. Adult upstream
7. Courtship a. Freshwater
a. Origin of Birth (Freshwater) River
b. Pauses for days
b. Several days c. Powerful smell; live off
fat reserves.
c. humped backs, hooked jaws,
sharp teeth. Thicker skin,
distinct marks.

Part 2: Salmon as a keystone species

Ongoing research on Pacific salmon continues to demonstrate how vital salmon are to the river basin ecosystems of the
Pacific Northwest, Alaska, and Northeast Asia. Unfortunately, though, in much of their range, the 7 species of Pacific
Salmon are dwindling in number due to a variety of threats – including overharvesting, dams, and climate change.

Multinational efforts are underway to restore wild salmon populations and the ecosystems they’re a part of. In this activity
we will examine the impact salmon have on an ecosystem and why they are considered a ‘keystone species.’

Keystone Species
https://www.nrdc.org/stories/keystone-species-101
1. What is a keystone species?

2. How does the following quote from George Orwell’s book Animal Farm relate the influence keystone species
have on their ecosystem?
“All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.”

Pacific salmon range:

https://wildsalmoncenter.org/salmon-species/

Shade the geographic range of Pacific salmon on the map below

Salmon as keystone species:
https://pacificwild.org/salmon-a-keystone-species/ ; http://www.pebblescience.org/salmon_ecology.html ;
http://www.bluefish.org/keystone.htm

After reading the resources linked above, provide five (5) ways salmon impact their ecological communities.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Threats to salmon:
http://www.goscienceseven.com/ecosystems/water%20unit%20pdfs/StudentWhatsdepletingsalmon.pdf
Describe the effects of the “4 H’s” on salmon decline

1.
2.
3.
4.

Salmon recovery:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK5nUXkrz8o

1. How many miles of stream habitat would be accessible to salmon populations if the 4 lower Snake River dams
were removed?