The Wildlife Management Institute (WMI), in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is providing support to the Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC) network. This new section of the Outdoor News Bulletin will provide readers with regular updates on LCC efforts involving WMI. This month's article features an evaluation of habitat use by the Arkansas River Shiner for the Great Plains LCC that will help managers design conservation for this listed species.

The Arkansas River Shiner (ARS), Notropis girardi, is a minnow federally listed as a threatened species that now occurs natively in modest numbers only in the South Canadian River of Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma following decades of range contraction and population losses. The remaining populations are at increasing risk as global climate change is expected to impact the upper and middle South Canadian River drainage with a rise in air temperature as much as 4-6 degrees Fahrenheit and a decrease in precipitation from 10 to 35 percent in this century.

The Great Plains LCC identified improving understanding of historic and current habitat use by ARS, and predictions of future habitat under various climate change scenarios as a high priority to support conservation design and strategic habitat conservation for this species. The FWS asked WMI to help with this critical information need and provided the LCC with $97,000 to support this effort.  Based on their prior experience working on ARS, and the University of Oklahoma's willingness to contribute over $96,000 in matching funds, WMI contracted with Drs. Edie Marsh-Matthews and William Matthews of UO to conduct the analysis.

The researchers took advantage of several historic databases and gathered current data at multiple sites along the South Canadian River from September 2012 through August 2013 to evaluate potential effects of habitat and environmental change on ARS. They examined habitat use and availability at several spatial scales, in relation to air and water temperature, discharge and flow rates, and other physicochemical variables.

Key findings include the importance of a broad range of meso- and micro-habitat types to support various stages in the life cycle of ARS. The diversity in physical structure and habitat types in the drainage is also important due to variation in flows that can range from raging floods to periods when the main channel of the river becomes a series of largely isolated pools with little or no connectivity to tributary creeks. Results of this analysis will help managers as they seek to maintain adequate flow in the river and enhance connectivity between habitats so ARS can respond to changes in the river environment.

A final report submitted to WMI is under review by a technical review team and LCC staff. Following any necessary revisions, the report will be published on the GP LCC website, and available from WMI. (cs)

Watch for reports on other LCC progress in the WMI Landscapes section of the ONB.