Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Joe Giersch (Former Employee)

Science and Products

Filter Total Items: 17

Stoneflies in the genus Lednia (Plecoptera: Nemouridae): Sentinels of climate change impacts on mountain stream biodiversity

Rapid recession of glaciers and snowfields is threatening the habitats of cold-water biodiversity worldwide. In many ice-sourced headwaters of western North America, stoneflies in the genus Lednia (Plecoptera: Nemouridae) are a prominent member of the invertebrate community. With a broad distribution in mountain streams and close ties to declining glacier cover, Lednia has emerged as a sentinel of
Authors
Matthew D. Green, Lusha M. Tronstad, J. Joseph Giersch, Alisha A. Shah, Candace E. Fallon, Emilie Blevins, Taylor Kai, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Debra S. Finn, Scott Hotaling
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Cooperative Research Units, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center

Headwaters fed by subterranean ice: Potential climate refugia for alpine stream communities?

Near-term extirpations of macroinvertebrates are predicted for mountain streams worldwide as a warming climate drives the recession of high-elevation ice and snow. However, hydrological sources likely vary in their resistance to climate change, and thus streams fed by more resistant sources could persist as climate refugia for imperiled biota. In 2015–2016, we measured habitat characteristics and
Authors
Lusha M. Tronstad, Scott Hotaling, J. Joseph Giersch, Oliver J. Wilmot, Debra S. Finn
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center

Specialized meltwater biodiversity persists despite widespread deglaciation

Glaciers are important drivers of environmental heterogeneity and biological diversity across mountain landscapes. Worldwide, glaciers are receding rapidly due to climate change, with important consequences for biodiversity in mountain ecosystems. However, the effects of glacier loss on biodiversity have never been quantified across a mountainous region, primarily due to a lack of adequate data at
Authors
Clint C. Muhlfeld, Timothy Joseph Cline, J. Joseph Giersch, Erich Peitzsch, Caitlyn Florentine, Dean Jacobsen, Scott Hotaling
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Climate Research and Development Program, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center

Climate-induced expansions of invasive species in the Pacific Northwest, North America: A synthesis of observations and projections

Climate change may facilitate the expansion of non-native invasive species (NIS) in aquatic and terrestrial systems. However, empirical evidence remains scarce and poorly synthesized at scales necessary for effective management. We conducted a literature synthesis to assess the state of research on the observed and predicted effects of climate change on a suite of 398 aquatic and terrestrial NIS n
Authors
Jennifer Gervais, Ryan P. Kovach, Adam J. Sepulveda, Robert K. Al-Chokhachy, J. Joseph Giersch, Clint C. Muhlfeld
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center

Global status of trout and char: Conservation challenges in the twenty-first century

Freshwater ecosystems are among the most threatened ecosystems in the world (Richter et al. 1997; Strayer and Dudgeon 2010), and freshwater fishes may now be the most threatened group of vertebrates (Ricciardi and Rasmussen 1999; Vorosmarty et al. 2010; Darwall and Freyhof 2016). Of the 7,300 freshwater fish species globally assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN, www
Authors
Clint C. Muhlfeld, Daniel C. Dauwalter, Vincent S. D'Angelo, Andrew Ferguson, J. Joseph Giersch, Dean Impson, Itsuro Koizumi, Ryan Kovach, Philip McGinnity, Johannes Schoeffmann, John Epifanio, Leif Asbjørn Vøllestad
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center

Microbial assemblages reflect environmental heterogeneity in alpine streams

Alpine streams are dynamic habitats harboring substantial biodiversity across small spatial extents. The diversity of alpine stream biota is largely reflective of environmental heterogeneity stemming from varying hydrological sources. Globally, alpine stream diversity is under threat as meltwater sources recede and stream conditions become increasingly homogeneous. Much attention has been devoted
Authors
Scott Hotaling, Mary E. Foley, Lydia Zeglin, Debra S. Finn, Lusha M. Tronstad, J. Joseph Giersch, Clint C. Muhlfeld, David W. Weisrock
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center

An integrated framework for ecological drought across riverscapes of North America

Climate change is increasing the severity and extent of extreme droughts events, posing a critical threat to freshwater ecosystems, particularly with increasing human demands for diminishing water supplies. Despite the importance of drought as a significant driver of ecological and evolutionary dynamics, current understanding of drought consequences for freshwater biodiversity is very limited. W
Authors
Ryan Kovach, Jason B. Dunham, Robert Al-Chokhachy, Craig Snyder, Erik A. Beever, Gregory T. Pederson, Abigail Lynch, Nathaniel P. Hitt, Christopher P. Konrad, Kristin Jaeger, Alan H. Rea, Adam J. Sepulveda, Patrick M. Lambert, Jason M. Stoker, J. Joseph Giersch, Clint C. Muhlfeld
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Climate Research and Development Program, Land Change Science Program, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center

Congruent population genetic structure but differing depths of divergence for three alpine stoneflies with similar ecology and geographic distributions

Comparative population genetic studies provide a powerful means for assessing the degree to which evolutionary histories may be congruent among taxa while also highlighting the potential for cryptic diversity within existing species.In the Rocky Mountains, three confamilial stoneflies (Zapada glacier , Lednia tumana , and Lednia tetonica ; Plecoptera, Nemouridae) occupy cold alpine streams that ar
Authors
Scott Hotaling, J. Joseph Giersch, Debra S. Finn, Lusha M. Tronstad, Steve Jordan, Larry Serpa, Ronald Call, Clint C. Muhlfeld, David W. Weisrock
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center

Demographic modelling reveals a history of divergence with gene flow for a glacially tied stonefly in a changing post-Pleistocene landscape

AimClimate warming is causing extensive loss of glaciers in mountainous regions, yet our understanding of how glacial recession influences evolutionary processes and genetic diversity is limited. Linking genetic structure with the influences shaping it can improve understanding of how species respond to environmental change. Here, we used genome-scale data and demographic modelling to resolve the
Authors
Scott Hotaling, Clint C. Muhlfeld, J. Joseph Giersch, Omar Ali, Steve Jordan, Michael R. Miller, Gordon Luikart, David W. Weisrock
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center

Climate change and alpine stream biology: progress, challenges, and opportunities for the future

In alpine regions worldwide, climate change is dramatically altering ecosystems and affecting biodiversity in many ways. For streams, receding alpine glaciers and snowfields, paired with altered precipitation regimes, are driving shifts in hydrology, species distributions, basal resources, and threatening the very existence of some habitats and biota. Alpine streams harbour substantial species and
Authors
Scott Hotaling, Debra S. Finn, J. Joseph Giersch, David W. Weisrock, Dean Jacobsen
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center

Climate-induced glacier and snow loss imperils alpine stream insects

Climate warming is causing rapid loss of glaciers and snowpack in mountainous regions worldwide. These changes are predicted to negatively impact the habitats of many range-restricted species, particularly endemic, mountaintop species dependent on the unique thermal and hydrologic conditions found only in glacier-fed and snowmelt-driven alpine streams. Though progress has been made, existing under
Authors
J. Joseph Giersch, Scott Hotaling, Ryan Kovach, Leslie A. Jones, Clint C. Muhlfeld
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center

Loss of genetic diversity and increased subdivision in an endemic Alpine Stonefly threatened by climate change

Much remains unknown about the genetic status and population connectivity of high-elevation and high-latitude freshwater invertebrates, which often persist near snow and ice masses that are disappearing due to climate change. Here we report on the conservation genetics of the meltwater stonefly Lednia tumana (Ricker) of Montana, USA, a cold-water obligate species. We sequenced 1530 bp of mtDNA fro
Authors
Steve Jordan, J. Joseph Giersch, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Scott Hotalling, Liz Fanning, Tyler H. Tappenbeck, Gordon Luikart
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Climate Adaptation Science Centers, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center
link
Head shot of the Meltwater Stonefly

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...
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center
link

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...
Learn More
link
Collecting macroinvertebrates in Glacier National Park.

Integrated bioassessment of imperiled alpine aquatic ecosystems using NPS vital signs and USGS research data: Implications for conservation under a warming climate

Climate warming in the mid- to high-latitudes and high-elevation mountainous regions is occurring more rapidly than anywhere else on Earth, causing extensive loss of glaciers and snowpack. The loss of glaciers in Glacier National Park (GNP) is iconic of the combined impacts of global warming and reduced snowpack−all remaining 25 glaciers are predicted to disappear by 2030. These changes will...
By
Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center
link

Integrated bioassessment of imperiled alpine aquatic ecosystems using NPS vital signs and USGS research data: Implications for conservation under a warming climate

Climate warming in the mid- to high-latitudes and high-elevation mountainous regions is occurring more rapidly than anywhere else on Earth, causing extensive loss of glaciers and snowpack. The loss of glaciers in Glacier National Park (GNP) is iconic of the combined impacts of global warming and reduced snowpack−all remaining 25 glaciers are predicted to disappear by 2030. These changes will...
Learn More

Glacier National Park alpine aquatic invertebrates, 2011-2013

This data release incorporates high-resolution geospatial and biological data and accompanies a peer-reviewed manuscript "Specialized meltwater biodiversity persists despite widespread deglaciation". In this study, we tested the prediction that glacier retreat reduces biodiversity in mountain ecosystems through the loss of uniquely adapted meltwater stream species in Glacier National Park, USA. Th
By
Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center
link

Small Alpine Insects are Big Messengers of Climate Change

West Glacier, Mont. – Two rare alpine insects – native to the northern Rocky Mountains and dependent on cold waters of glacier and snowmelt-fed alpine...

Read Article
link

Rare Insect Found Only in Glacier National Park Imperiled by Melting Glaciers

The persistence of an already rare aquatic insect, the western glacier stonefly, is being imperiled by the loss of glaciers and increased stream...

Read Article
Image: At the Glacier's Mouth
link
Image: High Alpine Retreat
link
Image: Western Glacier Stonefly
link
Image: Western Glacier Stonefly
link
Image: The Meltwater Stonefly
link

Science and Products