Changes in steam vertebrate communities linked to spatial and temporal patterns in drying

A new paper led by Hana Moidu in Freshwater Biology explores the environmental factors that affect the distribution and composition of stream vertebrates in an intermittent stream. Using a long-term monitoring data from Coyote Creek in northern California, Hana and co-authors show that distinct habitat types found intermittent streams (transient small pools, transient large pools, and persistent large pools) support distinct assemblages of aquatic invertebrates. These findings help us to understand how stream drying from human water use climate change can affect freshwater biodiversity.