Landscape-Scale Approaches to Conservation of Native Fishes: Use of a Decision Support Framework to Facilitate On-the-Ground Conservation Actions in the Edwards Plateau Ecoregion of Texas

This presentation will highlight a landscape-scale conservation initiative underway in the Edwards Plateau Ecoregion of central Texas that is focused on the protection and restoration of native fish populations.  Also known as the Texas Hill Country, the region is characterized by a karst landscape intersected by numerous clear, spring-fed streams.  These streams support 15 species of endemic fishes, including the State Fish of Texas, Guadalupe bass Micropterus treculii.  Despite recent increases in human populations, many streams in the region remain relatively pristine and intact. However, projections of population growth, water demands, and land-use changes indicate that they will soon be at risk. Through this initiative, conservation partners are working to protect and restore native fishes of the region by addressing factors leading to their decline, including flow alteration, loss of watershed connectivity, physical habitat degradation, and competition and hybridization with introduced, non-native forms (e.g., smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu).  To guide and coordinate on-the-ground conservation actions implemented through the initiative, partners have developed a decision support framework that identifies specific species conservation needs and strategies, and incorporates data and information on a variety of factors relevant to the persistence of native fishes and their habitats. Datasets being used to inform this framework include range-wide assessments of genetic population structure; aquatic community and habitat use assessments; spring, instream and riparian habitat surveys; and detailed landscape and ecological mapping data.  Furthermore, the framework supports prioritization and selection of specific types (e.g., conservation stockings, instream habitat restoration, bank stabilization, barrier removal) and locations of projects.  This presentation will outline the decision-making process used to select and design the specific protection and restoration projects currently underway, and discuss how the decision support framework has been used to inform this process.  This presentation will also discuss how the results of ongoing research and monitoring efforts in the region are being used to enhance the design of future protection and restoration projects, and adapt and further inform the overarching conservation strategies that are guiding this landscape-scale conservation initiative.