Reports, Presentations, Posters

The Maine Water Temperature Working Group: Working collaboratively to identify thermal refugia for cold water species

Graham Goulette, NOAA Fisheries

Merry Gallagher, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife

Kirstin Underwood, US Fish & Wildlife Service

Climate change is a worldwide phenomenon with the northern hemisphere experiencing greater temperature increases than its counterpart. In the contiguous United States, the region realizing the fastest warming rate is the Northeast. As the climate continues to change and future temperatures in the Northeast are expected to continue to rise, suitable habitat for cold water species will be reduced. In 2014 the Maine Water Temperature Working Group was formed from multiple state and federal agencies, academia, Tribes, and NGO’s to create The Maine Interagency Stream Temperature Monitoring and Modeling Network to facilitate a coordinated stream temperature monitoring effort in Maine that was integrated with regional and national efforts. Since 2015, 26 organizations have been involved in the effort. Historical temperature data have been collected and uploaded from more than 1900 locations providing over 4000 temperature time series comprised of more than 17 million records. A total of 287 active longterm monitoring stations have been deployed across the state and continue to collect data. These data are uploaded into a web-based database, SHEDS, for storage in one centralized repository. SHEDS also hosts a module for predictive catchment modeling and other stream temperature modeling tools. Researchers and fisheries managers have used this robust data repository for brook trout occupancy modeling and regional climate studies. Resource managers can use the Interactive Catchment Explorer tool derived from SHEDS to prioritize sites for habitat restoration.