CAN MADTOM CATFISHES BE A CONSERVATION TOOL FOR HEADWATER SYSTEMS? IDENTIFYING OPPORTUNITIES AND POTENTIAL AS UMBRELLA SPECIES
Madtom catfishes are an understudied and imperiled group of fishes, with approximately 20% of the genus under protection of the Endangered Species Act. Madtom catfishes are most common within streams orders of four or less, but can be found in higher ordered streams. For the purpose of this study, the conservation assessment will be restricted to the Ouachita Highland Ecoregion located in Arkansas, which contains watersheds recognized as high-priority biodiversity hotspots, containing approximately 75 species of fishes and mussels of conservation concern. A high-priority species of concern for Arkansas is the Caddo Madtom (Noturus taylori), which has a distribution range that encompasses the Ouachita River basin, the Caddo, Little Missouri, and Ouachita rivers. The distribution of the Caddo Madtom overlaps with approximately 21 species of concern for the state. These systems are exposed to land use practices, such as timber harvesting, mining, and pasture that have been documented to impact local rivers. The aim of this study is to present a conservation assessment to determine the efficacy of madtom catfishes as management umbrella species within the Ouachita Highland Ecoregion. The objectives are to (1) develop occupancy models for the Caddo Madtom throughout the Ouachita Highland Ecoregion to ascertain niche requirements and variability throughout its known distribution ; (2) incorporate occupancy metrics into predictive spatial distribution models to estimate the full range of the species; (3) sample novel localities for presence and absence; and (4) conduct an in-depth survey of novel localities to assess stream community. Acquiring more data for the Caddo Madtom and approximating the degree of distributional overlap with other at-risk species can better determine the efficacy of this species as a surrogate for the Ouachita Mountain ecoregion. Additionally, these results will influence conservation management of headwater systems throughout the southeastern U.S.
Presentations
Southeastern Fishes Council Regional Conference, 2021
These are slides from an oral presentation with preliminary data during the SFC conference. The project at this time featured updated distribution data for the Caddo Madtom from our first summer season snorkel survey for our occupancy study. Overall, we observed 81 individuals, with 14 detections out of 54 sampled sites. These observations resulted in one new county recorded, in the upper-most reaches of the Ouachita River, and a possible re-discovery in the Little Missouri River where the species was thought to be extirpated since 1979. There is much more data to come. This talk was meant to introduce the project to the society.
These are slides from an oral presentation with preliminary data during the SFC conference. The project at this time featured updated distribution data for the Caddo Madtom from our first summer season snorkel survey for our occupancy study. Overall, we observed 81 individuals, with 14 detections out of 54 sampled sites. These observations resulted in one new county recorded, in the upper-most reaches of the Ouachita River, and a possible re-discovery in the Little Missouri River where the species was thought to be extirpated since 1979. There is much more data to come. This talk was meant to introduce the project to the society.
Adventures and finds while flipping rocks
Video of how we search and find Caddo Madtom during a snorkel survey. We flip rocks as we go, and there is always a bit of excitement in not knowing what you will find. Video can be found here
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Video of a mussel found during the survey. Since mussels are imperiled throughout our watersheds, we made sure to document any mussels we came across. You can see it filter feeding, expelling water when picked up, and the retraction of the foot in the video here |
Sometimes we come across other species, like the water snake here, when completing a snorkel survey. Video can be found here
Awesome people that helped along the way!
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