Freshwater Fish

This project is a collaboration of scientists from the USGS and University of Georgia to collect and analyze data describing how small-stream fishes use habitats created through stream restoration activities. The USFWS Region 4 requested this Science Support Partnership (SSP) project as a means to evaluate the effectiveness of stream restoration (primarily in north Georgia, and potentially in...

Our nation’s rivers have many uses. People have altered the flow of some rivers through diversions, dams, and water use. Such changes can affect fish populations and our scientist work to understand these effects by answering such questions as “How is survival of young fish affected by streamflow patterns?” and “How do fish communities respond to changes in water management?”

The Challenge: The DOI WaterSMART (Sustain and Manage America’s Resources for Tomorrow) initiative is developing data and tools to help water managers identify current and future water shortages, for humans and for freshwater ecosystems. Fishes, for example, can decline in diversity and abundance when streamflow becomes too low, for too long. However, ecologists find that effects of declining...