Preliminary Assessment of Climate Change Effects on Stream and River Biological Indicators

Abstract

Biological indicators are increasingly being used to assess the health of aquatic ecosystems and are often an element of water quality standards. However, little attention has been given to potential interactions between climate change and biocriteria. We provide a framework for categorizing existing biocriteria into: 1) biocriteria sensitive to climate change, 2) biocriteria insensitive to climate change, and 3) biocriteria sensitive to climate change and other stressors.