Science Brief for Resource Managers: Metacommunity Dynamics of Gila River Fishes

Description: The upper Gila River in New Mexico is one of the few unobstructed rivers in the Colorado River Basin with largely intact native fish populations, including four federally listed and one state listed species.Freshwater systems throughout the West continue to be threatened by human encroachment and water development. Methodologies or decision support tools to evaluate resource management practices that foster an understanding of how fish species adapt to the effects of climate change are critical to future resource management planning.

Categories: Data, Publication; Types: Citation, Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2011, AZ-01, AZ-02, Academics & scientific researchers, Applications and Tools, All tags... Arizona, Colorado River Basin, Conservation NGOs, Data Acquisition and Development, Data.gov Desert LCC, Datasets/Database, Decision Support, EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > FISH, Federal resource managers, LCC Network Science Catalog, NM-02, New Mexico, New Mexico, Population & Habitat Evaluation/Projection, Publication, Report, Transboundary Madrean Watersheds Pilot Area, United States, Upper Gila River Basin, biodiversity, biota, climate change, completed, fish, product, risk, river, water, water management, Fewer tags

Final Report: Metacommunity Dynamics of Gila River Fishes

Executive Summary: Our project combined field surveys of fish communities and habitat characteristics with estimates of population genetic structure to identify and evaluate critical factors influencing fish communities in the Gila River basin of New Mexico. Fish communities were structured along a strong habitat gradient associated with stream size, with distinct differences in the distribution of native and nonnative fishes. Nonnative warm-water species generally occurred in mainstem habitats, whereas coldwater nonnative salmonids occurred in high elevation tributaries. Habitat affinities of native species varied, with some occurring in mainstem habitats and others in tributaries. Several native species, such...

Categories: Data; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2011, AZ-01, AZ-02, Academics & scientific researchers, Applications and Tools, All tags... Arizona, Colorado River Basin, Conservation NGOs, Data Acquisition and Development, Data.gov Desert LCC, Datasets/Database, Decision Support, EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > FISH, Federal resource managers, LCC Network Science Catalog, NM-02, New Mexico, New Mexico, Population & Habitat Evaluation/Projection, Report, Report, Transboundary Madrean Watersheds Pilot Area, United States, Upper Gila River Basin, biodiversity, biota, climate change, completed, fish, product, risk, river, water, water management, Fewer tags