Golden Trout Early Warning Network
This project monitors, maps, and evaluates the impact of climate change on the native habitat of the state fish of California, the golden trout. Water temperature data loggers, global positioning systems (GPS), geographic information systems (GIS), and remote sensing (RS) are used to monitor and map selected stream segments in the Golden Trout Wilderness. Though California golden trout have been planted and do well in streams and alpine lakes across the Sierra Nevada, and even in some other states, its native habitat and population are vulnerable to climate change and climate crisis. The data, information, and insights gathered from this project will complement existing knowledge about the current state of this species of special concern, provide insights into the future of the golden trout in the era of climate crisis, and will inform preservation efforts.
The Golden Trout Early Warning Network
A series of temperature data loggers were recently placed within selected stream segments of the Golden Trout Wilderness. Between 2021 and 2026, hourly temperature data will be recorded and analyzed. Significant deviations from historical temperature data sets, and from recorded weekly and monthly medians and means, will serve as indications or warnings that the native habitat of the golden trout is stable or possibly deteriorating. Local stream temperature readings will be complemented by remote sensing imagery analysis that will examine the periodicities, deviations, and changes in alpine meadow phenology. The integration of in situ temperature measurements and remotely sensed imagery will provide a multi-scalar mapping, monitoring, early warning, and crisis assessment network for the GTW.
From Climate Change to Climate Crisis
Climate change is a fact. Whether or not climate change will result in an ongoing and persistent state of crisis - ecological and/or otherwise - remains to be seen. The long-term prospects and survival of the California golden trout are just one indicator of the extent of climate change and the immediacy of the climate crisis. Preserving the California golden trout is not a choice between people or fish. Rather it is a statement about our ongoing and ever-changing relationship with the environment, our priorities in the 21st century, and our abilities (or lack thereof) to initiate meaningful change.
Below are links to various articles and readings that inform, complement, and extend this project:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/29/klamath-river-dam-california-salmon
https://www.savewildtrout.org/
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/dec/15/oregon-dead-fir-trees-conifers-climate-crisis
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/27/sunday-review/colorado-river-drying-up.html
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/16/science/owens-pupfish-pister.html
https://wildlife.ca.gov/Fishing/Inland/Hoot-Owl
https://gizmodo.com/the-west-s-megadrought-has-ruined-some-of-the-most-icon-1847352465
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/148565/sierra-snowbank-short-on-funds
Like in ‘Postapocalyptic Movies’: Heat Wave Killed Marine Wildlife en Masse (New York Times)