These data include 2015 - 2018 eDNA field sample points indicating lab results for presence or absence of bull trout. Sample sites are spaced at a 1 kilometer interval throughout the historical range of bull trout. eDNA stream samples are collected and species presence/absence is determined by analyses at the National Genomics Center. Results are recorded in the feature attribute table of the eDNA sample site shapefile. One point feature in the shapefile was generated for each 1 kilometer sample point in the bull trout eDNA feature class. Where multiple samples were collected at a single eDNA sample site, replicate point features will occur at a single location in the shapefile. The bull trout is an ESA-listed species with a historical range that encompasses many waters across the Northwest. Though once abundant, bull trout have declined in many locations and are at risk from a changing climate, nonnative species, and habitat degradation. Informed conservation planning relies on sound and precise information about the distribution of bull trout in thousands of streams, but gathering this information is a daunting and expensive task. To overcome this problem, we coupled 1) predictions from the range-wide, spatially precise Climate Shield model on the location of natal habitats of bull trout with 2) a sampling template for every 8-digit hydrologic unit in the historical range of bull trout, based on the probability of detecting bull trout presence using environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling (McKelvey et al. 2016). The template consists of a master set of geospatially referenced sampling locations at 1-kilometer intervals within each cold-water habitat. We also identified sampling locations at this same interval based on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (USFWS) designation of critical spawning and rearing habitat. Based on field tests of eDNA detection probabilities conducted by the National Genomics Center for Wildlife and Fish Conservation, this sampling approach will reliably determine the presence of populations of bull trout, as well as provide insights on non-spawning habitats used by adult and subadult fish. The completed bull trout eDNA survey results are available through an interactive ArcGIS Online Map. The map provides the ability to zoom in and look at an area of interest, as well as to create queries or select an area to download points as a shapefile.
