Final Report: Identification and Laboratory Validation of Temperature Tolerance for Macroinvertebrates: Developing Vulnerability Prediction Tools

The objective of this study was to determine why certain stream insects tend to be found in certain temperature ranges. Many federal, state and local agencies use stream insects to monitor the health of freshwater ecosystems. While the temperature ranges for some insects are often inferred from the temperature of the waters where they were collected, this inference is coarse at best and problematic at worst. Stream temperatures fluctuate a lot during the year and temperature may or may not control where an insect lives. Field insects were collected and sent to a laboratory for testing several temperature endpoints, particularly at higher temperatures. Respiration, breathing rate, and some physical activities were...

Categories: Publication; Types: Citation; Tags: Climate change, Northwest CASC, Other Wildlife, Oxygen, Rivers, Streams and Lakes, All tags... Water, Coasts and Ice, Wildlife and Plants, aquatic resources, insects, macroinvertebrate temperature tolerance, temperature ranges, vulnerability, Fewer tags