Water Temperature in Rivers and Streams
Increases in summer stream temperature as a result of human impacts and climate change may exceed the thermal tolerances of aquatic biota that are adapted to colder environments and climates. The combined effects of humans and climate change are of global concern across the range of coldwater aquatic organisms.
We use state-of-the-art technology and techniques to quantify spatial and temporal variability in stream temperature using field surveys, remote sensing, and spatially explicit modeling. This information is used to understand and predict the effects of climate change, riparian management, and restoration on cold-water habitats and the thermal diversity of rivers and streams.
Featured Studies
- Longitudinal Patterns of Fish Assemblage Structure, Stream Habitat, and Water Temperature in the Lower Crooked River, Oregon
- Primer for Identifying Cold-water Thermal Refugia for the Protection and Restoration of Habitat for Native Salmonids
- Integrating Future Climate Change and Riparian Land-Use to Forecast the Effects of Stream Warming on Species Invasions and Their Impacts on Native Salmonids
- Using Remote Sensing, Modeling, and In Situ Thermal Mapping to Evaluate Potential Effects of Thinning in Riparian Forests on Stream Temperature
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Aquatic & Landscape Ecology Research Team (FRESC)
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
Water temperature data from the Priest River, Idaho, 2018-2019
Water temperature data from the Pend Oreille River, Washington and Idaho, 2016-2018
Below are publications associated with this project.
Effects of structure and volcanic stratigraphy on groundwater and surface water flow: Hat Creek basin, California, USA
Land-cover and climatic controls on water temperature, flow permanence, and fragmentation of Great Basin stream networks
Projecting spatiotemporally explicit effects of climate change on stream temperature: A model comparison and implications for coldwater fishes
Longitudinal, lateral, vertical, and temporal thermal heterogeneity in a large impounded river: Implications for cold-water refuges
Lidar-based approaches for estimating solar insolation in heavily forested streams
Simulated juvenile salmon growth and phenology respond to altered thermal regimes and stream network shape
Longitudinal thermal heterogeneity in rivers and refugia for coldwater species: Effects of scale and climate change
Envisioning, quantifying, and managing thermal regimes on river networks
Rethinking the longitudinal stream temperature paradigm: region-wide comparison of thermal infrared imagery reveals unexpected complexity of river temperatures
Diel horizontal migration in streams: juvenile fish exploit spatial heterogeneity in thermal and trophic resources
Thermal infrared remote sensing of water temperature in riverine landscapes
Projected climate-induced habitat loss for salmonids in the John Day River network, Oregon, U.S.A.
Increases in summer stream temperature as a result of human impacts and climate change may exceed the thermal tolerances of aquatic biota that are adapted to colder environments and climates. The combined effects of humans and climate change are of global concern across the range of coldwater aquatic organisms.
We use state-of-the-art technology and techniques to quantify spatial and temporal variability in stream temperature using field surveys, remote sensing, and spatially explicit modeling. This information is used to understand and predict the effects of climate change, riparian management, and restoration on cold-water habitats and the thermal diversity of rivers and streams.
Featured Studies
- Longitudinal Patterns of Fish Assemblage Structure, Stream Habitat, and Water Temperature in the Lower Crooked River, Oregon
- Primer for Identifying Cold-water Thermal Refugia for the Protection and Restoration of Habitat for Native Salmonids
- Integrating Future Climate Change and Riparian Land-Use to Forecast the Effects of Stream Warming on Species Invasions and Their Impacts on Native Salmonids
- Using Remote Sensing, Modeling, and In Situ Thermal Mapping to Evaluate Potential Effects of Thinning in Riparian Forests on Stream Temperature
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Aquatic & Landscape Ecology Research Team (FRESC)
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
Water temperature data from the Priest River, Idaho, 2018-2019
Water temperature data from the Pend Oreille River, Washington and Idaho, 2016-2018
Below are publications associated with this project.