From left to right: fringed myotis (Myotis thysanodes), the big
brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus) and the long-eared myotis (Myotis
evotis). With the widespread effects of the changing climate on
biological communities and landscapes across the world, it has
become increasingly important for ecologists to identify
indicator species among these ecosystems that can indirectly
relate information about environmental changes that are not
apparent or easily accessible. So it is in the west, the Rocky
Mountains and in particular the Colorado River Basin, where
temperatures have increased more than anywhere else in the
contiguous United States, an average 1.2° C higher than the 20th
century averages. The biggest increases in temperature happens
at the highest elevations, which is With warming temperatures
comes less precipitation and less snowpack, which means during
the summer months, the breeding season for most species, there
is significant reductions of stream discharge, which has reduced
the flow of the Colorado Rive