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Counihan TD, Bouska KL, Brewer SK, Jacobson RB, Casper AF, Chapman CG, Waite IR, Sheehan KR, Pyron M, Irwin ER, Riva-Murray K, McKerrow AJ, Bayer JM. Identifying monitoring information needs that support the management of fish in large rivers. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0267113. [PMID: 35486607 PMCID: PMC9053787 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0267113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2021] [Accepted: 03/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Management actions intended to benefit fish in large rivers can directly or indirectly affect multiple ecosystem components. Without consideration of the effects of management on non-target ecosystem components, unintended consequences may limit management efficacy. Monitoring can help clarify the effects of management actions, including on non-target ecosystem components, but only if data are collected to characterize key ecosystem processes that could affect the outcome. Scientists from across the U.S. convened to develop a conceptual model that would help identify monitoring information needed to better understand how natural and anthropogenic factors affect large river fishes. We applied the conceptual model to case studies in four large U.S. rivers. The application of the conceptual model indicates the model is flexible and relevant to large rivers in different geographic settings and with different management challenges. By visualizing how natural and anthropogenic drivers directly or indirectly affect cascading ecosystem tiers, our model identified critical information gaps and uncertainties that, if resolved, could inform how to best meet management objectives. Despite large differences in the physical and ecological contexts of the river systems, the case studies also demonstrated substantial commonalities in the data needed to better understand how stressors affect fish in these systems. For example, in most systems information on river discharge and water temperature were needed and available. Conversely, information regarding trophic relationships and the habitat requirements of larval fishes were generally lacking. This result suggests that there is a need to better understand a set of common factors across large-river systems. We provide a stepwise procedure to facilitate the application of our conceptual model to other river systems and management goals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy D. Counihan
- U.S. Geological Survey, Western Fisheries Research Center, Columbia River Research Laboratory, Cook, Washington, United States of America
| | - Kristen L. Bouska
- U.S. Geological Survey, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States of America
| | - Shannon K. Brewer
- U.S. Geological Survey, Alabama Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Auburn, Alabama, United States of America
| | - Robert B. Jacobson
- U.S. Geological Survey, Columbia Environmental Research Center, Columbia, Missouri, United States of America
| | - Andrew F. Casper
- Illinois Natural History Survey, Illinois River Biological Station, Havana, Illinois, United States of America
| | - Colin G. Chapman
- Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Ocean Salmon and Columbia River Program, Clackamas, Oregon, United States of America
| | - Ian R. Waite
- U.S. Geological Survey, Oregon Water Science Center, Portland, Oregon, United States of America
| | - Kenneth R. Sheehan
- U.S. Geological Survey, Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center, Flagstaff, Arizona, United States of America
| | - Mark Pyron
- Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, United States of America
| | - Elise R. Irwin
- U.S. Geological Survey, Alabama Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Auburn, Alabama, United States of America
| | - Karen Riva-Murray
- U.S. Geological Survey, Northeast Region, Troy, New York, United States of America
| | - Alexa J. McKerrow
- U.S. Geological Survey, Science Analytics and Synthesis, Core Science Systems, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Jennifer M. Bayer
- U.S. Geological Survey, Northwest-Pacific Islands Region, Cook, Washington, United States of America
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DeBoer JA, Thoms MC, Lamer JT, Casper AF, Delong MD. Complex to simple: Fish growth along the Illinois River network. ECOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecocom.2020.100891] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Regime change in a large-floodplain river ecosystem: patterns in body-size and functional biomass indicate a shift in fish communities. Biol Invasions 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s10530-020-02330-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Bouska KL, Houser JN, De Jager NR, Drake DC, Collins SF, Gibson-Reinemer DK, Thomsen MA. Conceptualizing alternate regimes in a large floodplain-river ecosystem: Water clarity, invasive fish, and floodplain vegetation. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2020; 264:110516. [PMID: 32250922 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110516] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2019] [Revised: 03/10/2020] [Accepted: 03/28/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Regime shifts - persistent changes in the structure and function of an ecosystem - are well-documented for some ecosystems and have informed research and management of these ecosystems. In floodplain-river ecosystems, there is growing interest from restoration practitioners in ecological resilience, yet regime shifts remain poorly understood in these ecosystems. To understand how regime shifts may apply to floodplain-river ecosystems, we synthesize our understanding of ecosystem dynamics using an alternate regimes conceptual framework. We present three plausible sets of alternate regimes relevant to natural resource management interests within the Upper Mississippi River and Illinois River. These alternate regimes include: 1) a clear water and abundant vegetation regime vs. a turbid water and sparse vegetation regime in lentic, off-channel areas, 2) a diverse native fish community regime vs. an invasive-dominated fish community regime, and 3) a regime characterized by a diverse and dynamic mosaic of floodplain vegetation types vs. one characterized as a persistent invasive wet meadow monoculture. For each set of potential alternate regimes, we review available literature to synthesize known or hypothesized feedback mechanisms that reinforce regimes, controlling variables that drive regime transitions, and current restoration pathways. Our conceptual models provide preliminary support for the existence of alternate regimes in floodplain-river ecosystems. Quantitatively testing hypotheses contained within the conceptual model are important next steps in evaluating the model. Ultimately, the synthesis and evaluation of alternate regimes can inform the utility of resilience concepts in restoration and management on the Upper Mississippi River and Illinois River and improve our understanding of ecosystem dynamics in other large, heavily managed floodplain-river ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristen L Bouska
- U.S. Geological Survey, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, 2630 Fanta Reed Road, La Crosse, WI, 54603, USA.
| | - Jeffrey N Houser
- U.S. Geological Survey, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, 2630 Fanta Reed Road, La Crosse, WI, 54603, USA
| | - Nathan R De Jager
- U.S. Geological Survey, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, 2630 Fanta Reed Road, La Crosse, WI, 54603, USA
| | - Deanne C Drake
- Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, La Crosse Field Station, 2630 Fanta Reed Road, La Crosse, WI, 54603, USA
| | - Scott F Collins
- Texas Tech University, 2500 Broadway, Lubbock, TX, 79409, USA; Illinois Natural History Survey, Kaskaskia Biological Station, 1235 CR 1000N, Sullivan, IL, 61951, USA
| | - Daniel K Gibson-Reinemer
- Adams State University, 208 Edgemont Boulevard, Alamosa, CO, 81101, USA; Illinois Natural History Survey, Illinois River Biological Station, 704 N. Schrader Avenue, Havana, IL, 62644, USA
| | - Meredith A Thomsen
- University of Wisconsin - La Crosse, 1725 State Street, La Crosse, WI, 54601, USA
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Milardi M, Gavioli A, Soininen J, Castaldelli G. Exotic species invasions undermine regional functional diversity of freshwater fish. Sci Rep 2019; 9:17921. [PMID: 31784553 PMCID: PMC6884620 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-54210-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2019] [Accepted: 11/09/2019] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Exotic species invasions often result in native biodiversity loss, i.e. a lower taxonomic diversity, but current knowledge on invasions effects underlined a potential increase of functional diversity. We thus explored the connections between functional diversity and exotic species invasions, while accounting for their environmental drivers, using a fine-resolution large dataset of Mediterranean stream fish communities. While functional diversity of native and exotic species responded similarly to most environmental constraints, we found significant differences in the effects of altitude and in the different ranking of constraints. These differences suggest that invasion dynamics could play a role in overriding some major environmental drivers. Our results also showed that a lower diversity of ecological traits in communities (about half of less disturbed communities) corresponded to a high invasion degree, and that the exotic component of communities had typically less diverse ecological traits than the native one, even when accounting for stream order and species richness. Overall, our results suggest that possible outcomes of severe exotic species invasions could include a reduced functional diversity of invaded communities, but analyzing data with finer ecological, temporal and spatial resolutions would be needed to pinpoint the causal relationship between invasions and functional diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Milardi
- University of Ferrara, Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, via Luigi Borsari 46, 44121, Ferrara, Italy
- Fisheries New Zealand - Tini a Tangaroa, Ministry for Primary Industries - Manatū Ahu Matua, 34 - 38 Bowen Street, Wellington, New Zealand
| | - Anna Gavioli
- University of Ferrara, Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, via Luigi Borsari 46, 44121, Ferrara, Italy.
| | - Janne Soininen
- University of Helsinki, Department of Geosciences and Geography, PO Box 64, 34 - 38 Bowen Street, FI-00014, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Giuseppe Castaldelli
- University of Ferrara, Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, via Luigi Borsari 46, 44121, Ferrara, Italy
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Törnroos A, Pecuchet L, Olsson J, Gårdmark A, Blomqvist M, Lindegren M, Bonsdorff E. Four decades of functional community change reveals gradual trends and low interlinkage across trophic groups in a large marine ecosystem. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2019; 25:1235-1246. [PMID: 30570820 PMCID: PMC6850384 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14552] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2018] [Revised: 11/02/2018] [Accepted: 11/30/2018] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
The rate at which biological diversity is altered on both land and in the sea, makes temporal community development a critical and fundamental part of understanding global change. With advancements in trait-based approaches, the focus on the impact of temporal change has shifted towards its potential effects on the functioning of the ecosystems. Our mechanistic understanding of and ability to predict community change is still impeded by the lack of knowledge in long-term functional dynamics that span several trophic levels. To address this, we assessed species richness and multiple dimensions of functional diversity and dynamics of two interacting key organism groups in the marine food web: fish and zoobenthos. We utilized unique time series-data spanning four decades, from three environmentally distinct coastal areas in the Baltic Sea, and assembled trait information on six traits per organism group covering aspects of feeding, living habit, reproduction and life history. We identified gradual long-term trends, rather than abrupt changes in functional diversity (trait richness, evenness, dispersion) trait turnover, and overall multi-trait community composition. The linkage between fish and zoobenthic functional community change, in terms of correlation in long-term trends, was weak, with timing of changes being area and trophic group specific. Developments of fish and zoobenthos traits, particularly size (increase in small size for both groups) and feeding habits (e.g. increase in generalist feeding for fish and scavenging or predation for zoobenthos), suggest changes in trophic pathways. We summarize our findings by highlighting three key aspects for understanding functional change across trophic groups: (a) decoupling of species from trait richness, (b) decoupling of richness from density and (c) determining of turnover and multi-trait dynamics. We therefore argue for quantifying change in multiple functional measures to help assessments of biodiversity change move beyond taxonomy and single trophic groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Törnroos
- Environmental and Marine BiologyÅbo Akademi UniversityTurkuFinland
- Centre for Ocean Life, DTU‐AquaKngs. LyngbyDenmark
| | - Laurene Pecuchet
- Environmental and Marine BiologyÅbo Akademi UniversityTurkuFinland
- Centre for Ocean Life, DTU‐AquaKngs. LyngbyDenmark
| | - Jens Olsson
- Department of Aquatic ResourcesSwedish University of Agricultural SciencesÖregrundSweden
| | - Anna Gårdmark
- Department of Aquatic ResourcesSwedish University of Agricultural SciencesÖregrundSweden
| | | | | | - Erik Bonsdorff
- Environmental and Marine BiologyÅbo Akademi UniversityTurkuFinland
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