Climate change acts on stream and river ecosystems as a global stressor, affecting hydrology and temperature regime, as well as sediment and nutrient runoff.  Responses of biotic communities to climate-induced changes are in part related to traits of component taxa, including temperature tolerances and preferences, and sensitivity to changes in flow characteristics.  We examined and categorized traits of benthic macroinvertebrates sampled in long-term state bioassessment data sets from Maine and Utah.  We characterized species distributions relative to their biogeography, to develop expectations for responses to climate-related changes in stream habitat conditions.  One expectation is that species distributions will move north as the climate warms.  Within a confined region, this is manifested as reduction in warm-intolerant taxa, and increase of cold-intolerant taxa. We examined evidence for range shifts that could be correlated with knowledge of biogeographic distribution.  Long-term trends at single or closely related station groups were used to check for increases or decreases in taxa abundance that were compared to species traits.  Results can be used to categorize benthic invertebrates as climate indicators in bioassessment programs as part of a framework to account for climate change effects within state assessment programs.