Air Quality in Mountain Ecosystems - Ozone

The monitoring of ozone in remote ecosystems is problematic, since continuous ozone monitors need electric power to operate. Two solutions to this problem exist. The first is to use passive samplers to estimate ozone loading. Passive samplers utilize a chemical reaction of ozone with nitrite to form nitrate. The amount of nitrate indicates the amount of ozone loading. Nitrite-coated filters are exposed for 1-2 weeks and then analyzed for nitrate. The second method is to use portable battery powered ozone monitors for continuous monitoring of ozone in remote ecosystems.

Briefing Paper

Videos and Abstracts of the 2008 Western Division Meeting of the American Fisheries Society

Fire, Fuel Management, and Aquatic Ecosystems

Wildfires dramatically change watersheds, yielding floods and debris flows that endanger water supplies, human lives, and valuable fish habitats. Fuel management is intended to mitigate the effects of wildfire but poses risks to water quality and aquatic habitat. Solutions are needed for simultaneous restoration of forests and aquatic ecosystems. Although the problem is typically cast as a tradeoff between management actions like fuel reduction, fire suppression, and emergency stabilization versus wildfire, new ideas about appropriate management response to wildfire require understanding how to build resilient ecosystems. There is a need for strategic restoration that addresses terrestrial as well as aquatic needs.

Briefing Paper

Climate Change & Wildfires: Effects on Stream Temperatures & Thermal Habitats

Temperature has an important influence on the distribution and abundance of stream organisms. A warming climate is expected to increase stream temperatures, but documentation of such increases is rare and usually limited to trend monitoring at a few sites. Broader understanding of climate effects on thermal characteristics of streams is needed to inform management strategies, but developing this understanding requires modeling techniques that provide valid interpolations between temperature measurement sites. Widespread use of digital temperature loggers provides abundant data in many places that may facilitate development of broad stream temperature models.

Briefing Paper

Bull Trout and Climate Change

Bull trout are an ESA listed species that may be especially vulnerable to the effects of a warming climate.  As such they may be a useful biological indicator of the effects climate change will have on mountain stream ecosystems.  Understanding threats to persistence of bull trout will help us understand threats to other species and ecosystems —information that will be key to prioritization of limited management resources.

Briefing Paper

Stream Temperature Modeling

Stream thermal regimes are important within regulatory contexts and strongly affect aquatic ecosystems. Numerous approaches have been developed for modeling stream temperatures, but broad application of these models to USFS lands has been constrained by data limitations and poor predictive ability. RMRS scientists have developed an approach to modeling stream temperatures that requires a minimum of field effort by using existing temperature records in combination with GIS and remote sensing technologies. The approach is being applied in a central Idaho watershed to map thermal habitat networks for native fish species, but could also be used to forecast future habitat distributions, improve understanding of factors affecting stream temperatures, determine compliance with water quality standards, or optimize temperature sampling strategies.

Briefing Paper  |  Stream Temperature Modeling and Monitoring Website |

NorWeST Regional Database and Modeled Stream Temperature Website

Climate Change & Wildfires: Effects on Stream Temperatures & Thermal Habitats Nonnative Fish Removal (SEE FIRE & FUELS)

Western Watersheds and Climate Change Workshop

The Western Watersheds and Climate Change: Water and Aquatic System Tools workshop was held from November 17-19, 2009 in the Denver/Boulder area of Colorado. This workshop brought together the management and research community to 1) share knowledge and tools that are currently available to address water and climate change, and 2) identify additional tools that are needed to adequately address water and climate change issues in Forest Plan revisions, project level decisions, and partner activities.

Link to Presentations

Climate Change, Water, and Aquatic Ecosystems

Environmental trends associated with a warming climate are occurring rapidly in the Rocky Mountains. These trends will affect the spatial and temporal distribution of water resources, habitats, and disturbance in aquatic ecosystems. Threats from reduced runoff, increased flow variability, increased temperature, increased wildfires, lost snowpack storage, and reduced vegetation cover affect water users and aquatic biota alike. The complex challenges posed by climate warming will require proactive, informed management if significant alteration of aquatic systems is to be avoided.

Briefing Paper

Bull Trout and Climate Change - Risks, Uncertainties and Opportunities for Mapping the Future

Bull trout are a federally listed, native charr species distributed throughout the Pacific Northwest. Among the critical requirements for this species are a need for large, interconnected habitats of cold water. Much uncertainty exists regarding the future of bull trout and their habitats given environmental trends associated with a warming climate and increasing fire activity. Presentations at this symposium provide an overview of bull trout, their relationship to climate, and alternatives for modeling future habitat and population distributions.

Videos and Abstracts of the 2008 Western Division Meeting of the American Fisheries Society

Climate Change & Wildfires: Effects on Stream Temperatures & Thermal Habitats Nonnative Fish Removal (SEE FIRE & FUELS)