Landscape characteristics influence projected growth rates of stream‐resident juvenile salmon in the face of climate change in the Kenai River watershed, south‐central Alaska.

This article focuses on the projected impacts of climate change on the summer growth rates of juvenile Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in the Kenai River watershed of south-central Alaska. Using bioenergetics and temperature sensitivity models informed by field data on diet, growth, and water temperatures from 2015–2016, the study projects that climate warming over the coming decades (2030–2069) will generally reduce juvenile salmon growth during summer by 5.1% to 22.8% relative to a 2010–2019 baseline, with variation depending on age cohort, feeding rate, and local habitat characteristics. The study highlights that low-elevation tributaries with higher air–water temperature sensitivity and salmon feeding at lower rates are likely to experience the greatest declines, though an extended growing season due to warming could partially offset these reductions. These findings underscore the heterogeneous responses of juvenile salmon growth to climate warming across diverse freshwater habitats and emphasize the importance of conserving varied and interconnected habitats to support salmon populations under changing environmental conditions.