Improved thermal preferences and a stressor index derived from modeled stream temperatures and regional taxonomic standards for freshwater macroinvertebrates of the Pacific Northwest, USA.

ABSTRACT: Benthic macroinvertebrate taxa vary in their sensitivities to water quality and habitat conditions, contributing to their extensive use as ecological indicators. As climate change and landscape alteration increasingly impact stream temperatures, interest is growing in expanding our knowledge of how macroinvertebrates are affected by current and future thermal conditions. Using samples from 3501 sites, we evaluated relationships between macroinvertebrate taxa and modeled stream temperatures across Oregon and Washington, in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. We used Maximum Weekly Maximum Temperature (MWMT) values from the NorWeST temperature dataset, which is the same metric used for numeric water temperature standards in Oregon and Washington. MWMT captures peak thermal stress, when cold-water ad

SUBMITTER: Hubler S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11980781 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature