Natural
History
Collections
Integration Modeling Ecoforecasting
Mechanistic
Studies

Natural
History
Collections
Fish occurrence data from 1885 – present
KU museum, KS Heritage Prgm, KDWP, …
Various methodologies, collectors, etc.
good ‘presence’ data
3,862 samples,
133 species

Natural
History
Collections
KDWP stream surveys, 1995-2006
-standardized methodology, GPS
Fish collections with fewer than 20 individuals were excluded, rare species (< 5 occurrences) excluded
Kansas River basin: 392 samples, 53 species

Natural
History
Collections
Attributes for 29,000+ segments (1 st order streams excluded) calculated using a GIS
Stream size/position (Natl. Hydrography Dataset; USGS 1997)
Geology and soils (STATSGO database; NRCS 1994)
Land use (National Land Cover Dataset; USGS 1992)

Stream network structure
28% row crop
15% row crop
18% row crop
Soils, land use

Mechanistic
Studies
Species list generated from natural history collections (1885 – present)
Species traits quantified based on published literature
• Age at maturity
• Size at maturity
• Maximum size
• Longevity
• Maximum clutch
• Mean clutch
• Mean ovum diameter
• Ovum diameter range
• Spawning season duration
• Number of bouts per year
• Parental care
• Time to hatching*
• Larval growth*
• YOY growth
• Adult growth
• Relative anadromy
Notes on diet, primary habitat, reproductive behaviors

Mechanistic
Studies
Effects of species/functional groups on stream ecosystem function
- experimental stream facility KSU
- field experiments, surveys

Integration

1880 1900 1930 1948 1963 1977
450
400
350
300
600
550
500
Thomas
“Dust bowl”
Wallace
Regional droughts
Greeley
2003

1880 1900 1930 1948 1963
Drought Drought
1977
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Other row
Pasture/Rangeland
crop
Fallow
Wheat/Corn
Irrigated
1860 1880 1900 1920 1935 1950 1964 1987 2005
Year
2003

1880 1900
Siltation
1930 1948 1963 1977
Drought Drought
Terracing
Irrigation
Intensification
14
12
10
Arkansas basin
8
6
4
Smoky Hill basin
2
0
Eastern KS basins
1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000
Year
2003

1880 1900
Siltation
1930 1948 1963 1977
Drought Drought
Terracing
Irrigation
Intensification
2003
Smoky   Hill
Arkansas
Eastern

1880 1900
Siltation
200
150
1930 1948 1963 1977
Drought Drought
Terracing
Irrigation
Intensification
Reservoir
Construction
1963
(regression   tree   analysis)
Prior   mean   =   49   cfs
New   mean   =   7   cfs
100
50
0
1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Year
Smoky Hill @ Elkader
2003

Dominant influences on stream habitat
Streamflow regime shift
1948 1963 1977 1880 1900 1930 2003
Siltation
Small impoundments
Drought Drought
Terracing
Irrigation intensification
Reservoir construction
Species introductions
Habitat and network fragmentation
Increase in species introductions

Native, extirpated and introduced species
Eastern Basins Reservoirs
97 native spp.
93 present
4 extirpated
29 introduced spp. (1 translocated)
Smoky Hill Basin
Reservoirs & groundwater extraction
40 native spp.
20 present (1 at risk)
20 extirpated
21 introduced spp. (2 translocated)
Arkansas Basin
Groundwater extraction
48 native spp.
35 present (2 at risk)
13 extirpated
32 introduced spp. (4 translocated)

Stream habitat alteration and life-history theory
Trade-offs in key life-history characteristics among species should confer differential population responses to environmental conditions
Applications for conservation, invasion biology and ecoforecasting – traits related to probability of extirpation, introduction
How do life-history traits vary among fish species in prairie streams?
- natives vs. non-natives?
- extirpated, declining or increasing?
How have different species responded to prairie stream habitat alteration?
- do responses correspond with life-history traits?

Datasets used
• Fish occurrence data from 1885 – present
• 14 life-history traits quantified for 102 species (18 families)
Analyses
• Monte Carlo iterative resampling, logit regression
• Relationships among key demographic trade-offs were plotted and examined using planar regression
• Dimensionality of life-history traits was reduced using PCA
• PC scores of native, extirpated, and introduced species were compared (MANOVA) for three Kansas basins with different patterns of anthropogenic impact
• PC scores of species identified as declining and expanding for each basin were compared using MANOVA

Reproductive trade-offs and life-history strategies
Periodic
Opportunistic
Planar regression
R 2 = 0.97
P < 0.001
Equilibrium

PCA of life-history traits approx. 90% variance in life-history traits explained by PC1 and PC2
Bouts/Yr
Spawning season
1.0
-1.0
Parental care
Relative anadromy
Range ovum diam.
Ovum diameter
Mean clutch
Max clutch
1.5
Maturation age
Growth adult
Growth YOY
Longevity
Maturation size
Max size
-2.0

PCA of life-history traits
Life-history traits differed among taxonomic families (MANOVA: P < 0.001)
Spawning season
Bouts/Yr
Parental care
-1.5
Relative anadromy
Ovum diameter
Clutch size
Maturation size
Growth, Longevity
Acipenseridae
Polyodontidae
Atherinidae
Clupeidae
Catostomidae
Cyprinidae
Fundulidae
Poeciliidae
Esocidae
Lepisosteidae
Hiodontidae
Centrarchidae
Cottidae
Moronidae
Percidae
Sciaenidae
Petromyzontidae
Ictaluridae

Life-history traits and habitat associations
Species life-history traits differed among habitats (MANOVA: P < 0.001)
-1.5
small cold water small cold/warm small warm water warm streams/rivers river channels rivers/lakes lakes/reservoirs lakes/estuaries

Life-history traits and trophic group
Life-history traits differed among trophic groups (MANOVA: P < 0.001)
Spawning season
Bouts/Yr
Relative anadromy
Algivore/Detritivore
Omnivore
Invertivore
Invertivore/Piscivore
Piscivore
Clutch size
Maturation size
Growth, Longevity
Parental care
Ovum diameter

Life-history traits of native, extirpated and introduced species
Eastern Basins
Reservoirs
Life-history traits distinguish classes on PC1 (ANOVA: P < 0.001)
Native and Introduced species differed
Extirpated
Native
Introduced

Life-history traits of native, extirpated and introduced species
Smoky Hill Basin
Reservoirs & water extraction
Life-history traits distinguish classes on PC1 (ANOVA: P = 0.032)
Extirpated
Native and Introduced species differed
Native
At Risk
Introduced
Translocated

Life-history traits of native, extirpated and introduced species Arkansas Basin
Groundwater extraction
Life-history traits distinguish classes on PC1 (ANOVA: P = 0.028)
Native and Introduced species differed
Extirpated
Native
Introduced
Translocated

Species increasing and decreasing
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
HYBPLA Hybognathus placitus (Plains Minnow)
Art by JosephTomelleri
LEPCYA Lepomis cyanellus (Green Sunfish)
Walks et al. In Review

Increasers and decreasers
Eastern
30 4
Smoky Hill
15 3
Arkansas
14 6
% All species
% Centrarchids
% Cyprinids
20
10
0
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0
60
50
40
30
60
50
40
30
20
10
Increase
Decrease

Decreasing
Increasing
Stable
Eastern Basins
Reservoirs
Smoky Hill Basin
Reservoirs & groundwater extraction
Arkansas Basin
Groundwater extraction

Summary
Species composition:
- extirpations, introductions,
- generally more increasing than declining
- differed among basins with different hydrologic impacts
Life-history traits:
- differed among taxonomic and trophic groups, habitat assoc.
Extirpations and introductions:
- life-history traits of extirpated species differed among basins
- introductions were generally similar across basins
Increasers and decliners:
- life-history traits of decreasing species differed among basins
- increasing species were somewhat different in the Eastern basins

Applications
Identify critical habitat alterations that may result in species extirpations or facilitate establishment of introduced species
- e.g. excessive groundwater mining, impoundment
Prioritize conservation initiatives – proactive
- characteristics of extinction prone species
- characteristics of invaders
Mechanism - forecast species / community responses to different scenarios of environmental degradation or restoration

Integration
Modeling fish species distributions, nutrient concentrations and stream ecosystem function
Nutrient loading and fish

DATA
KDWP stream surveys 1995-2006
Environmental attributes for 29,000+ segments (1 st order streams excluded) calculated using a GIS
ANALYSES
Correlation matrix, redundant environ. variables excluded
Remaining environmental variables (n=16) and stream surveys (392 samples, 53 species) were used to generate classification trees for each species leave one out cross-validation, estimate of fit

Common   shiner,   Luxilus   cornutus

Flathead   catfish,   Pylodictis   olivaris

Predicted Proportional Abundance of Grazers
Multiple regression – KDWP abundance data, environmental
Predict proportional abundance for each segment

Predicted Total P (mg/L)
Predict nutrient concentrations from relationship with land use
Dodds & Oakes 2004

A = High nutrient, high grazer density
B = High nutrient, low grazer density
C = Low nutrient, high grazer density
D = Low nutrient, low grazer density
NSF proposal submitted by Gido et al.