An integrated stream restoration and native fish conservation strategy for the Blackfoot River basin /

Abstract.—In 2015, the Little Tennessee River basin became the nation’s first native fish conservation area. Watersheds designated as native fish conservation areas are managed for the conservation and restoration of native fish and other aquatic species, allowing compatible uses. The Little Tennessee River basin spans three states (Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee) and features a diversity of aquatic habitats that include high-elevation coldwater trout streams, warmwater rivers, and large human-made reservoirs. Although this basin is home to a biologically diverse aquatic community, streams have been impacted by a host of stressors, including logging, dams, agriculture, industrial pollutants, piscicides, and development. Some streams impacted in the past now offer restoration opportunities, and numerous efforts are underway to restore native fish and mussels to streams in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, on U.S. Forest Service land, on the Qualla Boundary of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and on private lands. More than 20 organizations, including federal and state agencies, industry, and nongovernmental entities, form the Little Tennessee Native Fish Conservation Partnership. The partnership supports work already underway by partners by providing additional funding, technical and educational resources, and a mechanism for collaboration. Perhaps most importantly, the partnership provides a forum to plan and implement watershed conservation on a landscape scale. Partners developed an online conservation mapper, which houses data, maps threats, identifies focal areas for restoration and protection, and ultimately serves as a conservation plan for the watershed. Current efforts to identify habitat restoration and protection projects are underway.

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Multispecies and Watershed Approaches to Freshwater Fish Conservation

Multispecies and Watershed Approaches to Freshwater Fish Conservation ◽

10.47886/9781934874578.ch7 ◽

2019 ◽

Keyword(s):

River Basin ◽

Native Fish ◽

Snake River ◽

Aquatic Species ◽

Conservation Areas ◽

Fish Conservation ◽

Unit Code ◽

Hydrologic Unit Code ◽

Hydrologic Unit ◽

Management Approaches

Abstract.—Native fish conservation areas (NFCAs) are watersheds where management emphasizes proactive conservation and restoration for long-term persistence of native fish assemblages while allowing for compatible uses. Native fish conservation areas are intended to complement traditional fisheries management approaches that are often reactive to population stressors and focused on single-species conservation efforts rather than complete assemblages. We identified potential NFCAs in the upper Snake River basin above Hells Canyon Dam using a process that ranked all subwatersheds (Hydrologic Unit Code 12) and used empirical data on distribution, abundance, and genetics for three native trout species (Bull Trout Salvelinus confluentus, Columbia River Redband Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss gairdneri, and Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout O. clarkii bouvieri, including the fine-spotted form) and both known occurrences and modeled potential distributions of native nongame fishes. Rankings also incorporated drainage network connectivity and land-protection status (e.g., national park, wilderness). Clusters of high-ranking subwatersheds were identified as potential NFCAs that were then classified according to the presence of nongame fishes identified as species of greatest conservation need in state wildlife action plans. The Pacific Creek and Goose Creek watersheds ranked high in the upper basin (above Shoshone Falls), and Little Jacks Creek and Squaw Creek ranked high in the lower basin. We then contrasted characteristics of a select few potential NFCAs, discuss the practical implementation and benefits of NFCAs for both fishes and other aquatic species in the upper Snake River basin, examined how the NFCA approach could enhance existing conservation partnerships, and discuss how designating select watersheds as NFCAs can create higher public awareness of the value of native fishes and other aquatic species and their habitats.

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Response of Wild Trout to Stream Restoration over Two Decades in the Blackfoot River Basin, Montana

Transactions of the American Fisheries Society ◽

10.1080/00028487.2012.720626 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 142 (1) ◽

pp. 68-81 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

Ron Pierce ◽

Craig Podner ◽

Kellie Carim

Keyword(s):

River Basin ◽

Stream Restoration ◽

Blackfoot River ◽

Wild Trout

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Instream Habitat Restoration and Stream Temperature Reduction in a Whirling Disease-Positive Spring Creek in the Blackfoot River Basin, Montana

Transactions of the American Fisheries Society ◽

10.1080/00028487.2014.925972 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 143 (5) ◽

pp. 1188-1198 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Ron Pierce ◽

Craig Podner ◽

Laurie Marczak ◽

Leslie Jones

Keyword(s):

River Basin ◽

Habitat Restoration ◽

Stream Temperature ◽

Whirling Disease ◽

Temperature Reduction ◽

Blackfoot River

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Multispecies and Watershed Approaches to Freshwater Fish Conservation

Multispecies and Watershed Approaches to Freshwater Fish Conservation ◽

10.47886/9781934874578.ch9 ◽

2019 ◽

Keyword(s):

Freshwater Fish ◽

Flood Control ◽

Freshwater Fishes ◽

Native Fish ◽

Conservation Areas ◽

Fish Conservation ◽

Freshwater Systems ◽

Partnership Development ◽

Freshwater Habitats

Abstract.—Texas harbors 191 species of native freshwater fishes, 48% of which are considered imperiled. The primary cause of fish species imperilment in Texas is anthropogenic alteration of freshwater systems, which continues to occur at rates and scales that threaten the long-term resiliency of freshwater habitats, species, and ecosystems. Innovative conservation approaches are needed to restore and maintain functional watershed processes, restore freshwater habitats, and conserve native species while simultaneously supporting human needs, such as flood control, municipal and agricultural water supply, water quality protection, and water-based recreation. The need for an integrated and holistic approach to conservation of freshwater systems has been the impetus for development of the Texas Native Fish Conservation Areas Network (hereafter “Texas NFCAs Network”). The Texas NFCAs Network consists of springs, ciénegas, creeks, rivers, and associated watersheds uniquely valued in preservation of Texas freshwater fish diversity. Twenty native fish conservation areas have been designated throughout the state. These were selected based on a spatial prioritization focused on identification of freshwater systems critically important to the long-term persistence of 91 freshwater fishes considered species of greatest conservation need. Through a shared vision of collaborative stewardship, conservation partnerships have formed among nongovernmental organizations, universities, and state and federal agencies to plan and deliver actions within the Texas NFCAs Network to restore and preserve native fishes and their habitats. Furthermore, the Texas NFCAs Network has increased awareness of the ecological, recreational, and economic values of Texas freshwater systems and helped increase interest and capacity of local landowners, communities, and recreational users (e.g., paddlers, anglers) to act as advocates and local stewards of these systems. By facilitating partnership development, coordinating broad-based conservation planning, and leveraging technical and financial resources toward strategic conservation investments, the Texas NFCAs Network has served as a catalyst for collaborative, science-based stewardship of native freshwater fishes and their habitats in Texas. The Texas NFCAs Network offers a successful case study in multispecies and watershed approaches to freshwater fish conservation transferrable to other states in the United States, with particular relevance to those states that, similar to Texas, consist predominately of privately owned landscapes.

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Selection of Priority Areas for Fish Conservation in Guadiana River Basin, Iberian Peninsula

Conservation Biology ◽

10.1111/j.1523-1739.2004.00620.x ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

pp. 189-200 ◽

Cited By ~ 82

Author(s):

A. F. FILIPE ◽

T. A. MARQUES ◽

P. TIAGO ◽

F. RIBEIRO ◽

L. MOREIRA DA COSTA ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Iberian Peninsula ◽

River Basin ◽

Fish Conservation ◽

Priority Areas ◽

Guadiana River Basin ◽

Selection Of

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Inventory of the fish fauna from Ivaí River basin, Paraná State, Brazil

Biota Neotropica ◽

10.1590/1676-0611-bn-2015-0151 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 16 (3) ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Augusto Frota ◽

Gabriel de Carvalho Deprá ◽

Letícia Machado Petenucci ◽

Weferson Júnio da Graça

Keyword(s):

River Basin ◽

Native Species ◽

Flood Control ◽

Environmental Heterogeneity ◽

Hydroelectric Plant ◽

Extinction Risk ◽

Fish Fauna ◽

Native Fish ◽

Species Introduction ◽

High Species Richness

Abstract We compiled data on fish fauna of the Ivaí River basin from recent specialised literature, standardised sampling and records of species deposited in fish collections. There were 118 fish species of eight orders and 29 families. Of these, 100 species are autochthonous (84.8%), 13, allochthonous (11.0%) and five, exotic (4.2%). The main causes for the occurrence of non-native species are escapes from aquaculture, introduction for fishing purposes and the construction of the Itaipu hydroelectric plant. The predominance of small and medium-sized Characiformes and Siluriformes, including 13 species new to science, accounts for approximately 11.0% of all species and 13.0% of all native species. About 10.2% of all species and 12.0% of all native species are endemic to the upper stretch of the Ivaí River, isolated by numerous waterfalls in tributary rivers and streams. The Ivaí River basin is subjected to various anthropogenic interferences such as pollution, eutrophication, siltation, construction of dams, flood control, fisheries, species introduction and release of fingerlings. These activities raise concerns about biodiversity of Brazilian inland waters especially regarding the fish fauna; the basin of the Ivaí River already has species classified in categories of extinction risk: Brycon nattereri and Apareiodon vladii (Vulnerable) and Characidium heirmostigmata and Steindachneridion scriptum (Endangered). The high species richness of native fish, endemism of some, high environmental heterogeneity, high risk of extinction and lack of knowledge of several other species along with the eminent human activities raise the need to enrich the scientific knowledge for future conservation efforts for the studied basin.

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