Study of stream fishes provides new framework to monitor climate change in the Chesapeake Bay headwaters Active
Issue: The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) have identified four goals for actions toward change climate:
• address the threats of climate change in all aspects of the partnership’s work;
• prioritize communities, working lands, and most vulnerable habitats;
• apply the best scientific, modeling, monitoring and planning capabilities; and
• connect restoration outcomes with emerging opportunities.
A new USGS study, done in cooperation with the National Park Service, helps address these CBP climate goals by revealing how strategies for survival and reproduction of fishes can be used to understand climate change in the Chesapeake Bay headwaters and across the globe.
USGS Study
Researchers sampled stream fishes in the C&O Canal National Historical Park that runs along the Potomac River in Maryland and analyzed species traits (see map). The sample sites included locations with stable environmental conditions due to groundwater inputs as well as locations with flashy environmental conditions due to low-infiltration soils and the absence of large groundwater inputs. USGS led this study in collaboration with the National Park Service and Frostburg State University. This study is part of an on-going effort to understand climate change and stream fish habitat in karst landscapes of the Chesapeake Bay headwaters.
Major Findings
- Fish species were categorized based on their strategies for survival and reproduction: “equilibrium” species require relatively stable conditions because they only have a few offspring each year. In contrast, “opportunistic” species have many offspring each year and therefore can rapidly recover following environmental disturbances.
- Streams within karst terrain primarily supported equilibrium species, indicating stabilizing effects of springs that emerge from limestone aquifers with extensive groundwater flow paths.
- In contrast, streams with high runoff potential (low permeability soils) primarily supported opportunistic species, indicating the importance of rapid population growth following repeated environmental disturbances.
- Changes in the abundance of opportunistic and equilibrium species therefore may indicate responses to extreme weather events predicted by atmospheric research.
- The species in this study shared evolutionary strategies with fishes from freshwater and marine ecosystems worldwide, suggesting the global importance of this research.
Management Applications
This study provides a new framework for the CBP’s Climate Resiliency and Fish Habitat workgroups to consider for monitoring ecological responses to climate change. It also indicates the value of streams in karst terrain as potential refugia from climate change in the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay. This research underscores the importance of long-term data collection and coordination among state and federal agencies. It also provides a framework for understanding biological trends across the Chesapeake Bay headwaters and throughout aquatic ecosystems worldwide.
For More Information
This study is titled “Life history strategies of stream fishes linked to predictors of hydrologic stability” and was published in the journal Ecology and Evolution.
For more information visit...
USGS Chesapeake studies
USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center
National Park Service Urban Ecology Research Learning Alliance
- Overview
Issue: The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) have identified four goals for actions toward change climate:
• address the threats of climate change in all aspects of the partnership’s work;
• prioritize communities, working lands, and most vulnerable habitats;
• apply the best scientific, modeling, monitoring and planning capabilities; and
• connect restoration outcomes with emerging opportunities.
A new USGS study, done in cooperation with the National Park Service, helps address these CBP climate goals by revealing how strategies for survival and reproduction of fishes can be used to understand climate change in the Chesapeake Bay headwaters and across the globe.USGS Study
Researchers sampled stream fishes in the C&O Canal National Historical Park that runs along the Potomac River in Maryland and analyzed species traits (see map). The sample sites included locations with stable environmental conditions due to groundwater inputs as well as locations with flashy environmental conditions due to low-infiltration soils and the absence of large groundwater inputs. USGS led this study in collaboration with the National Park Service and Frostburg State University. This study is part of an on-going effort to understand climate change and stream fish habitat in karst landscapes of the Chesapeake Bay headwaters.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media DetailsCheckered sculpin (Cottus sp. cf. girardi), an example of an “equilibrium” species that requires cold temperatures and stable flow conditions. Photograph taken by Ryan Hagerty, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media DetailsBanded killifish (Fundulus diaphanus), an example of an “opportunistic” species that can capitalize on destabilized stream flows and temperatures. Photograph taken by Konrad Schmidt, USGS. Major Findings
- Fish species were categorized based on their strategies for survival and reproduction: “equilibrium” species require relatively stable conditions because they only have a few offspring each year. In contrast, “opportunistic” species have many offspring each year and therefore can rapidly recover following environmental disturbances.
- Streams within karst terrain primarily supported equilibrium species, indicating stabilizing effects of springs that emerge from limestone aquifers with extensive groundwater flow paths.
- In contrast, streams with high runoff potential (low permeability soils) primarily supported opportunistic species, indicating the importance of rapid population growth following repeated environmental disturbances.
- Changes in the abundance of opportunistic and equilibrium species therefore may indicate responses to extreme weather events predicted by atmospheric research.
- The species in this study shared evolutionary strategies with fishes from freshwater and marine ecosystems worldwide, suggesting the global importance of this research.
Management Applications
This study provides a new framework for the CBP’s Climate Resiliency and Fish Habitat workgroups to consider for monitoring ecological responses to climate change. It also indicates the value of streams in karst terrain as potential refugia from climate change in the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay. This research underscores the importance of long-term data collection and coordination among state and federal agencies. It also provides a framework for understanding biological trends across the Chesapeake Bay headwaters and throughout aquatic ecosystems worldwide.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media DetailsThe study area within the Potomac River basin of eastern North America. Open circles show sample site locations on streams within the C&O Canal National Historical Park. Shaded areas show physiographic regions within Maryland from west to east as the Ridge and Valley, Blue Ridge, and Piedmont, and the stippled areas show regions of karst geology. The shaded region in the inset map shows the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Map created by Karli Rogers, USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center, Fish Biologist. For More Information
This study is titled “Life history strategies of stream fishes linked to predictors of hydrologic stability” and was published in the journal Ecology and Evolution.
For more information visit...
USGS Chesapeake studies
USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center
National Park Service Urban Ecology Research Learning Alliance