Cutthroat & Bull Trout

Cutthroat Trout and Bull Trout are some of the most well-studied species in regards to the impacts of climate change. We included them in our study primarily as a means to compare our results to previous studies...not to create another competing 'model' of how climate change will impact these species. If you are primarily interested in how Cutthroat and Bull Trout will respond to climate change, we suggest exploring the following resources that were specifically developed for them.

Online Tools

Cold-Water Climate Shield

Climate Shield was developed by the USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station and others (see Isaak et al. 2015 below).

Native Salmonid Climate-Vulnerability Tool

This tool, developed by the USGS Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center and others, is scheduled to be release later this year.

Idaho Water Transaction Tool

Developed by Trout Unlimited to help prioritize on-the-ground projects for vulnerable, native salmonids.

Peer-Reviewed Literature
This is a non-exhaustive list of some of the best vulnerability assessments for Cutthroat and Bull Trout.

Al-Chokhachy, R., B. B. Shepard, J. C. Burckhardt, D. Garren, S. Opitz, T. M. Koel, L. Nelson, and R. E. Gresswell. 2018. A portfolio framework for prioritizing conservation efforts for Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout populations. Fisheries 43: 485-496.

Bell, D. A., R. P. Kovach, C. C. Muhlfeld, R. Al-Chokhachy, T. J. Cline, D. C. Whited, D. A. Schmetterling, P. M. Lukacs, and A. R. Whiteley. 2021. Climate change and expanding invasive species drive widespread declines of native trout in the northern Rocky Mountains, USA. Science Advances 7: eabj5471.

Isaak, D. J., M. K. Young, D. Nagel, D. Horan, and M. Groce. 2015. The cold-water climate shield: delineating refugia for preserving salmonid fishes through the 21st century. Global Change Biology 21: 2540-2553.

Isaak. D. J., M. K. Young, D. L. Horan, D. Nagel, M. K. Schwartz, and K. S. McKelvey. 2022. Do metapopulations and management matter for relict headwater bull trout populations in a warming climate? Ecological Applications 32: e2594.

Jones, L. A., C. C. Muhlfeld, L. A. Marshall, B. L. McGlynn, and J. L. Kershner. 2014. Estimating thermal regimes of Bull Trout and assessing the potential effects of climate warming on critical habitats. River Research and Applications 30: 204-216.

Walters, A. W., C. P. Mandeville, and F. J. Rahel. 2018. The interaction of exposure and warming tolerance determines fish species vulnerability to warming stream temperatures. Biology Letters 14: 20180342.