date:Jul 12, 2012
the latest issue of the journalEcological Applications.
Earlier research showed that copper impacts a salmon's sense of smell. Other research showed that when a salmon's sense of smell is affected, its behavior changes.
Ma McIntyre put the two together, exposing juvenile coho salmon to varying amounts of copper and placing them in tanks with cutthroat trout, a common predator. The results were striking.
Salmon are attuned to smell a substance called Schreckstoff. German for scary stuff, it is