Developing a high-resolution riverine thermalscape for the Puget Sound Basin
Presentation Abstract
Climate change in the Pacific Northwest is predicted to increase air temperature, decrease winter snowpack, and contribute to the melting of alpine glaciers. All of these changes have the potential to decrease summer baseflows while concomitantly increasing stream temperatures in the Puget Sound Basin (PSB). Stream temperature is a dominant environmental driver that affects processes such as primary production, nutrient cycling, and salmonid growth, development, and survival. As such, it is important in the PSB to understand current stream temperature conditions, identify data gaps, and model how temperatures are likely to change in the future. The U.S. Forest Service NorWeST Project created a series of temperature maps for stream networks throughout the Pacific Northwest, including projections under multiple climate change scenarios. However, the in-stream data used to develop these maps were sparse at some locations leading to uncertainty in stream temperature predictions. We will work with federal, state, county, tribal, non-governmental organizations, and academic collaborators to assemble stream temperature data collected in the PSB, focusing on historical data from the last two decades. Stream temperature observations and climatic, vegetation, and geomorphic predictors will be used in a spatial stream network model similar in approach to the NorWeST model to improve the resolution of the PSB riverine thermalscape, which will facilitate improved modeling of the effects of future climate change on stream habitats in the PSB.
Session Title
Changes in Ecosystem Function and Climate Revealed by Long-term Monitoring in the Salish Sea
Conference Track
Climate Change and Ocean Acidification
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2016 : Vancouver, B.C.)
Document Type
Event
Start Date
2016 12:00 AM
Location
2016SSEC
Type of Presentation
Poster
Genre/Form
presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Water temperature--Washington (State)--Puget Sound Watershed; Stream ecology--Washington (State)--Puget Sound Watershed; Ecological mapping--Washington (State)--Puget Sound Watershed
Subjects – Names (LCNAF)
United States. Forest Service
Geographic Coverage
Puget Sound Watershed (Wash.); Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Developing a high-resolution riverine thermalscape for the Puget Sound Basin
2016SSEC
Climate change in the Pacific Northwest is predicted to increase air temperature, decrease winter snowpack, and contribute to the melting of alpine glaciers. All of these changes have the potential to decrease summer baseflows while concomitantly increasing stream temperatures in the Puget Sound Basin (PSB). Stream temperature is a dominant environmental driver that affects processes such as primary production, nutrient cycling, and salmonid growth, development, and survival. As such, it is important in the PSB to understand current stream temperature conditions, identify data gaps, and model how temperatures are likely to change in the future. The U.S. Forest Service NorWeST Project created a series of temperature maps for stream networks throughout the Pacific Northwest, including projections under multiple climate change scenarios. However, the in-stream data used to develop these maps were sparse at some locations leading to uncertainty in stream temperature predictions. We will work with federal, state, county, tribal, non-governmental organizations, and academic collaborators to assemble stream temperature data collected in the PSB, focusing on historical data from the last two decades. Stream temperature observations and climatic, vegetation, and geomorphic predictors will be used in a spatial stream network model similar in approach to the NorWeST model to improve the resolution of the PSB riverine thermalscape, which will facilitate improved modeling of the effects of future climate change on stream habitats in the PSB.
