Disentangling Reproductive Interactions among Communal Spawning Minnows Using Reproductive Condition and Visual Observations

Floyd, Stephen P.; Peoples, Brandon K.; Frimpong, Emmanuel A.

doi:10.1674/0003-0031-179.2.166

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 33 publications

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“…Another factor that prevents specific interpretation of the impact of increased disturbance is that the reproductive traits of female River Chub are poorly characterized. Relevant unknown quantities include the number of spawning rounds per female, the nature of egg development during the breeding season (but see Floyd et al 2018), and the spawning mode used by this species (Conover 1985; McBride et al 2015; Quinn 2019). How females distribute eggs over space and time and their capacity to invest more resources adaptively as conditions unfold during the spawning season are life history traits that are important for understanding the impacts of increased nest disruption on this species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A flooded future for River Chub? Future impacts of climate change and urbanization on reproduction of a keystone native fish species

Kemp

2023

Trans Am Fish Soc

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Predicted impacts of climate change in the eastern United States are pervasive and complex, including increased precipitation and frequency of heavy precipitation events, and altered seasonality of rainfall. This will potentially lead to increased flooding frequency and severity. The River Chub Nocomis micropogon is an important keystone and engineer species in the eastern United States, primarily through its construction of nesting habitat which is shared with other species (‘nest associates’) in a mutualistic relationship. River Chub nests are vulnerable to high flows caused by excessive precipitation and by urbanization of watersheds. Published thresholds linking River Chub nest disruption with stream discharge were used to interpret fine‐ scale predictions of a downscaled climate prediction model (HadGEM2‐ES), using a stochastic weather generator (LARS‐WG6) calibrated to two climate change scenarios. This was examined for a case study watershed, Big Elk Creek, in Maryland. The amount of River Chub nest disruption was compared between present day stream discharge observations (2010‐ 2021) and simulated data for 2061‐ 2080 under the ‘worst‐case’ RCP85 and the ‘probable‐ case’ RCP45 scenarios. Significantly elevated nest disruption under both RCP45 and RCP85 scenarios over observed current conditions was found under status quo watershed characteristics in the form of more disruptive events, more disrupted days, and shorter disruption‐ free days during the River Chub nesting season. Increased nest disruption projected by the downscaled HadGEM2‐ES climate prediction model was moderate, and far below the level of nest disruption observed in flashy urbanized streams that have lost or may have lost River Chub populations in the region. The moderate impacts of increased flooding from climate change will interact with projected growth in population and urbanization projected for the Big Elk Creek watershed. Mechanistic modeling of fine‐ scale processes using stochastic weather generators shows promise in modeling responses of ecosystems to changing conditions.

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