Tools for assessing the impact of climate change on freshwater fish populations

We identify and discuss ways to use existing information on the thermal ecology of freshwater fishes to assess the potential impact of climate change on wild populations of these organisms. Two primary questions are identified: (i) how do aquatic habitats change in response to atmospheric climate change? (ii) how do fish respond to habitat change at both the individual and population levels? In lakes, climate warming will lead to higher surface water temperatures, longer ice-free periods, and longer periods of thermal stratification. In rivers, climate warming will lead to higher groundwater temperatures with corresponding increases in both summer and winter temperatures, from headwaters to mouth. We describe several methods for predicting the biological effects of these changes in habitat. We examine the use of bioenergetic models to predict the impact of climate change on the growth of individual fish. We examine the use of thermal habitat models to assess the impact of climate change on population abundance. We examine the use of life cycle models to assess the impact of climate change on the zoogeographic distribution of species. Finally, we identify new research required to further develop these methods.