Development and validation of models to assess the threat to freshwater fishes from environmental change and invasive species

Kansas State

University

PIs:Craig PaukertJoanna WhittierJulian Olden

School of Fisheries and Aquatic SciencesUniversity of Washington

Funded by USGS, Status and Trends

Prioritize watersheds for conservation

Linked to Desert Fish Habitat Partnership

Final report: June 2012

Background

Previously developed multimetric indexone score for each watersheduseful, but limitations

Not all threats created equal:

hydrological alterationhabitat fragmentationwater qualityinvasive species

Should all these be combined into one index?

Background

Example:threats scores developed at smaller scale (e.g., Verde River) different than entire basin

Index values most sensitive to road crossing/road density

One index…….

Phoenix

Las Vegas

Many indices do not test the relationship between biotic integrity and threats

Previous work in Lower COR indicted limited response from biotic communities

Why?one multimetric index may mask effects

What about responses to biotic integrity?

What are the primary anthropogenic and biotic threats to freshwater in the Lower Colorado River Basin, and how do they vary across spatial scales?

Which regional fish faunas are at greatest risk to anthropogenic and biotic threats?

What is the association between species distributions and community composition and specific threat indices at different spatial scales?

Objectives

Based on Lower COR Aquatic GAP (with updates)

e.g., road density, land cover, land use, road crossings, diversions, 303d streams, etc.

Additional metrics:number of invasive species,distance to nearest invasive species, etc.

Methods-Threats

Tier 1: identify and summarize threats

• Several spatial scales (ecological drainage unit, catchment, segment)

Tier 2: quantify threat index

• Presence/absence, weighting by biotic influence, etc.• Calculate for different threat types (hydrological

alteration, habitat fragmentation, invasive species, etc.)

Tiered Approach

Tier 3: test biological relevance

Use existing fish data collected through Aquatic GAP (1.5 million fish records)

Are fish communities and traits more responsive to threats at certain scales or threat types?

Tiered Approach

DFHP more interested in state- and non-listed speciesenough research on federally listed species

Focus on species identified by DFHP

Linking of Desert Fish Habitat Partnership

Examples:

How does the presence of flannelmouth sucker respond to threats?

How does the fish community and functional traits respond to threats?

Lower COR basin as pilot studybecause of the existing data and diversity of threats

Can we use these methods for other regions of the DFHP and other FHP?

Linking of Desert Fish Habitat Partnership

Models that can be used for conservation planning

Graphical user interfaceGIS-based

Allows user to view different threat scores based on different methods and scales

Products

Many threats identified and summarizedFish data updated

Selection of post doctoral researcherDr. Angela Strecker-began Oct. 2009

Progress to Date