Climate change is an additional stressor in a complex suite of threats facing freshwater ecosystems. Climate change is already stressing many freshwater species by warming water temperatures, shifting streamflow regimes, increasing extreme events (e.g., floods, drought, wildfire), and facilitating species invasions.
USGS fisheries scientists study the complex interactions of a changing climate and species’ responses through coordinated and multidisciplinary data collection, synthesis, analysis, predictions and decision-support generated from multi-agency partnerships. Ultimately, our climate science is being used by managers to increase resiliency, viability, and adaptation in the face of rapid environmental change.
USGS studies related to climate change and the Fisheries Program are listed below.
Climate change links fate of glaciers and rare alpine stream invertebrates in Glacier National Park
Modeling the Response of Imperiled Freshwater Mussels to Anthropogenically Induced Changes in Water Temperature, Habitat, and Flow in Streams of the Southeastern and Central United States
Climate Change and Trout
Evaluating the linkages between regional climate patterns, local climate data, and native Yellowstone cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii bouvieri) and non-native brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) growth, survival, and life-history expressions.
Developing stream temperature networks for the Greater Yellowstone to aid in managing aquatic resources under a changing climate
Using the past as a prelude to the future to assess climate effects on native trout across the United States
- Overview
Climate change is an additional stressor in a complex suite of threats facing freshwater ecosystems. Climate change is already stressing many freshwater species by warming water temperatures, shifting streamflow regimes, increasing extreme events (e.g., floods, drought, wildfire), and facilitating species invasions.
USGS fisheries scientists study the complex interactions of a changing climate and species’ responses through coordinated and multidisciplinary data collection, synthesis, analysis, predictions and decision-support generated from multi-agency partnerships. Ultimately, our climate science is being used by managers to increase resiliency, viability, and adaptation in the face of rapid environmental change.
- Science
USGS studies related to climate change and the Fisheries Program are listed below.
Climate change links fate of glaciers and rare alpine stream invertebrates in Glacier National Park
The extensive loss of glaciers in Glacier National Park (GNP) is iconic of the global impacts of climate warming in mountain ecosystems. However, little is known about how climate change may threaten alpine stream species, especially invertebrates, persisting below disappearing snow and ice masses in GNP. Two alpine stream invertebrates – the meltwater stonefly and the glacier stonefly – are...Modeling the Response of Imperiled Freshwater Mussels to Anthropogenically Induced Changes in Water Temperature, Habitat, and Flow in Streams of the Southeastern and Central United States
Freshwater mussels are in serious global decline and urgently need protection and conservation. Declines in the abundance and diversity of North American mussels have been attributed to a wide array of human activities that cause pollution, water-quality degradation, and habitat destruction. Recent findings suggest that many mussel species are already living close to their upper thermal tolerances...Climate Change and Trout
Cold-water fishes like trout, salmon, and charr are especially vulnerable to shifting conditions related to climate change; for example, warmer temperatures and more variable hydroclimate. Native cutthroat trout of the southern Rocky Mountains now only occupy a tiny fraction of their historic habitats because of stressors such as non-native fishes, habitat fragmentation, and detrimental land...Evaluating the linkages between regional climate patterns, local climate data, and native Yellowstone cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii bouvieri) and non-native brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) growth, survival, and life-history expressions.
Beyond large-scale climate models, it is becoming increasingly important to quantify how regional climate patterns link with in situ stream temperatures and hydrologic regimes and concomitantly, fish behavior, growth, and survival. Here, we are using comprehensive mark-recapture techniques to evaluate how changing climatic conditions are likely to influence native westslope cutthroat trout and non...Developing stream temperature networks for the Greater Yellowstone to aid in managing aquatic resources under a changing climate
The topographic diversity and extensive area of protected public land within the Greater Yellowstone demonstrate the importance of this region as a natural resource reserve. Understanding the effects of anticipated changes in climate on aquatic resources and means for managing these resources will ultimately require accurate linkages between empirical data and regional climatic patterns. This...Using the past as a prelude to the future to assess climate effects on native trout across the United States
Future climate change is expected to dramatically alter the structure and function of freshwater ecosystems that support salmonid species. The response of salmonids to climate change will vary through space and time and manifest in both known and currently unknown ways. A potentially rich source of understanding of how salmonids interact with climate lies in a unified retrospective analysis of...