Influence of wildfire and beetle-caused canopy mortality on water temperature regimes in cutthroat trout streams, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

This dataset was collected to build on past and ongoing monitoring and research efforts within Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). Specifically, the data were collected to test the hypothesis that reductions in canopy cover due to natural disturbances (i.e. wildfire and beetle kill) result in increases in water temperature, or the longitudinal thermal gradient of a stream. Data values include stream temperature paired with light intensity data, and air temperature data to determine the influence of riparian canopy condition and longitudinal warming across a 1 km reach. Two control streams were selected: Ouzel Creek, which has virtually no riparian canopy due to a previous wildfire; and Hunters Creek, which has a dense and [...]