Alpine stream community structure in a headwater catchment of the Southern Rocky Mountains

Alpine streams support unique biodiversity due to their isolation in the river network and challenging environmental conditions. Variation in water sources to alpine streams can be an important driver of benthic community structure, however studies with extensive data on stream abiotic characteristics and biological communities remain relatively rare, especially for very high elevations where effects of climate change will be most pronounced. We used a combination of morphological and metabarcoding approaches to characterize benthic communities at nine locations within a high elevation catchment (~3200 to 3700 m) in the Southern Rocky Mountains.