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  5. Understanding Climate Impacts on Native and Invasive Fish for Conservation, Management, and Economic Goals in the Northern Rockies

Understanding Climate Impacts on Native and Invasive Fish for Conservation, Management, and Economic Goals in the Northern Rockies

Consequences of Shifting Fish Communities for Conservation, Management, and Local Economies in the Northern Rockies
Principal Investigator
Clint C Muhlfeld

Dates

Start Date
2018-07-15
End Date
2022-09-30
Release Date
2018

Summary

As the origin of three major basins that drain the Columbia, Missouri, and Saskatchewan rivers, Montana is the hydrologic apex for North America. The Northern Rocky Mountain region is home to some of the last remaining interconnected habitats for many native fishes, including the threatened bull trout and native westslope cutthroat trout. The Northern Rockies are also experiencing rapidly changing climate conditions, with temperatures rising at twice the global average. These changes are having a range of impacts on aquatic ecosystems, including warming stream temperatures and changing streamflow regimes. This region is also experiencing a rise in the expansion of alien invasive fish species, which further threaten ecologically and [...]

Child Items (3)

Contacts

Principal Investigator :
Clint C Muhlfeld, Abigail J Lynch, Robert K Al-Chokhachy
Funding Agency :
National CASC
Cooperator/Partner :
David Schmetterling, Andrew Whiteley, Dan Vermillion, Heather Lamson, Chris Downs, Diane Whited, Craig Johnson
CMS Group :
Climate Adaptation Science Centers (CASC) Program

Attached Files

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HaiyahaLake_RockyMtnNP_CO_AlanCressler.jpg
“Haiyaha Lake, Rocky Mountain NP, Alan Cressler - Credit” 		thumbnail 216.58 KB image/jpeg

Purpose

Climate-induced invasive species expansions and changes in aquatic species assemblages (i.e., which species are present) represent critical threats to biodiversity, ecosystem services, and human economies. Invasive species directly threaten regional economies, including a burgeoning outdoor economy that exceeds $7 billion dollars annually in Montana alone, of which, recreational fishing adds at least $1 billion. Despite the major threat of climate-induced changes in species assemblages to this region and ecosystems worldwide, our understanding of how climate change may enable the expansion of invasive species and alter community assemblages is limited, thereby restricting proactive resource management and future economic planning. Managers are increasingly confronted with trade-offs between native species conservation, proactive cold-water fisheries management, or a passive shift to warm-water fisheries. That is, managers are tasked with overseeing fisheries shifting in productivity, the suite of available fish, the various anglers that use those fish, and the overall ecological and economic ramifications of these changes. The goal of this project is to provide a quantitative assessment of the impacts of climate change on native and invasive fishes, fish communities, and user groups to help managers, anglers, and local government anticipate the ecological and economic consequences of climate change in the Northern Rocky Mountains.

Project Extension

parts
typeTechnical Summary
valueThe goal of this project is to quantify how climate change influences invasive species distributions, aquatic communities, and ecosystem services in freshwater systems of the Northern Rocky Mountains. Climate-induced invasive species expansions and shifts in aquatic community assemblages represent critical threats to biodiversity, ecosystem services, and human economies. Yet, the magnitude of and ramifications resulting from rapidly changing biological communities arising from climate change are poorly documented and understood. The lack of research documenting the observed and potential importance of this problem is directly hampering proactive natural resource management and even strategic economic planning at local, regional, national, and global scales. Here, we will address three objectives to better clarify and address the ecological, economic, and management problems associated with climate-induced changes in aquatic species distributions and community assemblages in the Northern Rocky Mountains: (1) quantify the role of climate change in promoting expansion of invasive salmonid fishes; (2) quantify temporal changes in fish community assemblages; and (3) determine how anglers are being influenced by and adapting to climate change. Together, this will help managers, anglers, and local government anticipate the ecological and economic consequences of climate change in the Northern Rocky Mountains.
projectStatusCompleted

Haiyaha Lake, Rocky Mountain NP, Alan Cressler - Credit
Haiyaha Lake, Rocky Mountain NP, Alan Cressler - Credit

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  • National CASC
  • National and Regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers

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Type Scheme Key
RegistrationUUID NCCWSC 9e1145d6-76be-4124-a670-46026afdbd89
StampID NCCWSC NCCWSC18-KR1308

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