Video about fish in seasonal habitats

Many migratory fishes access seasonal habitats to complete their life cycle. At high latitudes, seasonal habitats form during snowmelt in spring and early summer. Water is released from its solid state as snow and ice to abundant flows of water that replenish lakes and cause rivers to spill onto their floodplains.

This video discusses briefly how several species of spring-spawning fishes move from their overwintering location in Lake Mjøsa to their spawning and rearing habitats in the lower reaches of the Gudbrandsdalslågen River, Norway, during this flooding. Over just a few summer months, a mosaic of habitat types form as a result of shifting flows and lake levels, creating beneficial microclimates in an otherwise cold environment. These environments are particularly important for fishes that need aquatic vegetation and higher temperatures for spawning and incubation.

Allowing rivers to spread out laterally is key to creating and maintaining these diverse seasonal habitats.