Understanding the impact of future climatic scenarios upon key environmental factors that determine piscine assemblage of a torrential upland river of Eastern Himalayas, India

Small-scale freshwater reaches would be affected prior to changing climatic scenarios in the coming days. This study aims to build a profile of climate-change impact for the key environmental factors related to the fish assemblage of a small-scale upland river (Murti) in the Eastern Himalayas, India. In the coming future, climate change will lead to increased water current, acidity, pH, riparian quality and NDVI for this freshwater reach. At the same time, decreasing trend of shelter availability and substrate coarseness are projected from the same. River width seems to be less affected, but the whole watershed will experience loss of spatial heterogeneity with regard to these factors.