Stream Temperature Impact

Growing temperatures have led to extinctions and, in general, negative impacts on plant and animal species. To protect remaining biodiversity, management and restoration efforts must focus on prioritizing resources on species or populations that are most vulnerable to climate change. There’s a need for information on these vulnerable species to better inform our actions. Knowing how river temperature is evolving and how it brings any detrimental biological impacts is required to inform the management and conservation of cold-water fishes. Rivers are important habitats for salmon when and where temperatures are cold enough. Stream water temperature has been shown to “[influence] the behavior of fish more than any other nonliving variable” (B&F, 1979). In this study, the focus is on the endangered Snake River Sockeye in the Salmon River.