A heuristic framework for understanding and predicting the distribution and categorical abundance of species in stream communities is presented. The framework requires that species be described in terms of their functional relationships to habitat selective forces or their surrogates, which constitute "filters" occurring at hierarchical landscape scales (ranging from microhabitats to watersheds or basins). Large-scale filters are viewed as causative or mechanistic agents that constrain expression of local selective forces or biotic potential at lower scales. To join a local community, species in a regional pool must possess appropriate functional attributes (species traits) to "pass" through the nested filters. Biotic interactions are also a potential filter on local community composition, and they are invoked at the lower hierarchical levels, after species have passed through the physicochemical habitat filters. Potential landscape filters and their associated selective properties are identified, as are ...

Landscape filters and species traits: Towards mechanistic understanding and prediction in stream ecology

Traditionally lower and upper temperature tolerances of fishes have been quantified in the laboratory via three different experimental approaches: the Fry or incipient lethal temperature (ILT), critical thermal (CTM) and chronic lethal (CLM) methodologies. Although these three experimental laboratory approaches generate endpoints which are quantitatively expressed as a temperature, are determined experimentally with random samples of fish acclimated to specific temperatures, and involve both time and temperature as major test variables, they do not quantify the same response. All three approaches generate valuable, albeit different, information concerning the temperature tolerance of a species. In this review we have summarized published research concerning the tolerance of North American freshwater fishes to dynamic changes in temperature, i.e., tolerance is tested by methods that gradually change temperatures until biological stress is observed. We found more than 450 individual temperature tolerances listed in 80 publications which present original dynamic temperature tolerance data for 116 species, 7 subspecies and 7 hybrids from 19 families of North American freshwater fishes. This total represents about 1/3 of the families and 1/6 of the known North American freshwater species. Temperature tolerance data were partitioned by experimental approach, i.e., critical thermal method (CTM) and chronic lethal method (CLM), and direction of temperature change. Although both CTM and CLM expose fish to dynamic changes in water temperature, these two methods differ in temperature change rates and test endpoints, and hence measure different aspects of thermal stress. A majority of the 80 studies employed CTM to assess temperature tolerance, in particular determination of CTmaxima. One or more CTmaxima has been reported for 108 fishes. Twenty-two fishes have reported highest CTmaxima of 40°C or higher. Several species in the family Cyprinodontidae have generated some of the highest CTmaxima reported for any ectothermic vertebrate. For a variety of reasons, data concerning tolerance of low temperatures are less plentiful. Low temperature tolerance quantified as either CTminima or CLminima were found for a total of 37 fishes. Acclimation temperature exerts a major effect on the temperature tolerance of most North American fish species and it is usually strongly linearly related to both CTmaxima and CTminima. Although we uncovered dynamic temperature tolerance data for 130 fishes, only a single dynamic, temperature tolerance polygon has been published, that for the sheepshead minnow, Cyprinodon variegatus.

Temperature Tolerances of North American Freshwater Fishes Exposed to Dynamic Changes in Temperature

The effects of climate warming on the thermal habitat of 57 species of fish of the U.S. were estimated using results for a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide that were predicted by the Canadian Climate Center general circulation model. Baseline water temperature conditions were calculated from data collected at 1,700 U.S. Geological Survey stream monitoring stations across the U.S. Water temperatures after predicted climate change were obtained by multiplying air temperature changes by 0.9, a factor based on several field studies, and adding them to baseline water temperatures at stations in corresponding grid cells. Results indicated that habitat for cold and cool water fish would be reduced by -5O%, and that this effect would be distributed throughout the existing range of these species. Habitat losses were greater among species with smaller initial distributions and in geographic regions with the greatest warming (e.g. the central Midwest). Results for warm water fish habitat were less certain because of the poor state of knowledge regarding their high and low temperature tolerances; however, the habitat of many species of this thermal guild likely will also be substantially reduced by climate warming, whereas the habitat of other species will be increased. The threat of global climate change has stimulated the publication of numerous research papers dealing with the potential effects of surface and groundwater warming on the thermal habitat of freshwater fish (e.g. Coutant 1990; Magnuson et al. 1990; Meisner 1990; Stefan et al. 1995). With few exceptions (e.g. Shuter and Post 1990), most of these studies deal with responses to temperature in single water bodies or small geographic regions, so we decided to attempt an assessment of effects at a much larger scale consisting of the lower 48 states. Most of the studies cited above also dealt with effects of climate change on lake fish or habitat. We expected that using less detailed input data would keep the analysis manageable, but that we would use information compiled for or generated from previous smaller scale studies. These existing data include a quality-assured database of historical surface water temperature maxima at U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) stream monitoring stations and maximum temperature tolerances estimated from a field database for several dozen freshwater species of fish, as reported by Eaton et al. (1995); results of analyses of the relationship between air temperature and stream-water temperatures (Stefan and Preud’hommc 1993; Sinokrot and Stefan 1993); and a

https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.4319/lo.1996.41.5.1109

Effects of climate warming on fish thermal habitat in streams of the United States

To estimate weekly stream temperatures needed for fish habitat evaluation throughout an annual cycle, a four-parameter, nonlinear function of weekly air temperatures was used. The regression function was developed separately for the warming season and the cooling season to take heat storage effects (hysteresis) into account. Regression functions were developed for stream temperatures recorded over a 3-year period (1978–1980) at 584 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) gaging stations in the contiguous United States. Representative air temperatures were obtained from the closest of 197 weather stations. The distance between a stream gaging station and the corresponding weather station was from 1.4 to 244 km. These distances did not have a significant effect on the goodness of fit. The regression model fitted the weekly stream temperatures at 573 stream gaging stations (98% of all records used) with a coefficient of determination larger than 0.7. For 491 records (84% of all gaging stations) the coefficient was >0.9. At 56 gaging stations (10% of all records used), estimated maximum stream temperatures were smaller than at least four weekly stream temperatures recorded for the period of study. Consequently, the model is deemed successfully applicable (with 99% confidence) to more than 89% of the stream gaging stations. The average coefficient of determination of the stream temperature projection for these stations is 0.93 ± 0.01.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/98WR01877

A nonlinear regression model for weekly stream temperatures

In northern industrialized countries, the inland fisheries sector has long been dominated by recreational fisheries, which normally exploit fish for leisure or subsistence and provide many (poorly investigated) benefits to society. Various factors constrain the development and existence of inland fisheries, such as local user conflicts, low social priority and inadequate research and funding. In many cases, however, degradation of the environment and loss of aquatic habitat are the predominant concerns for the sustainability of inland fisheries. The need for concerted effort to prevent and reduce environmental degradation, as well as conservation of freshwater fish and fisheries as renewable common pool resources or entities in their own right is the greatest challenge facing sustainable development of inland waters. In inland fisheries management, the declining quality of the aquatic environment coupled with long-term inadequate and often inappropriate fisheries management has led to an emphasis on enhancement practices, such as stocking, to mitigate anthropogenic stress. However, this is not always the most appropriate management approach. Therefore, there is an urgent need to alter many traditional inland fisheries management practices and systems to focus on sustainable development.

This paper reviews the literature regarding the inputs needed for sustainability of inland fisheries in industrialized countries. To understand better the problems facing sustainable inland fisheries management, the inland fisheries environment, its benefits, negative impacts and constraints, as well as historical management, paradigms, trends and current practices are described. Major philosophical shifts, challenges and promising integrated management approaches are envisaged in a holistic framework. The following are considered key elements for sustainable development of inland fisheries: communication, information dissemination, education, institutional restructuring, marketing outreach, management plans, decision analysis, socioeconomic evaluation and research into the human dimension, in addition to traditional biological and ecological sciences. If these inputs are integrated with traditional fisheries management practices, the prospects for sustainability in the inland fisheries will be enhanced.

Reconciling traditional inland fisheries management and sustainability in industrialized countries, with emphasis on Europe

In 1979, Biesinger et al. described a technique for spatial and temporal matching of records of stream temperatures and fish sampling events to obtain estimates of yearly temperature regimes for freshwater fishes of the United States. This article describes the state of this Fish and Temperature Database Matching System (FTDMS), its usage to estimate thermal requirements for fishes, some proposed maximum temperature tolerances for several freshwater fish species, and the way these FTDMS-derived values relate to various laboratory test results. Although applicable to all species for which collection records exist, initial development and refinement of FTDMS has focused on estimating the maximum weekly mean temperature tolerance for 30 common fishes of the United States. The method involves extensive use of automated data processing during data incorporation, quality assurance checks, data matching, and endpoint calculation. Maximum weekly mean temperatures derived from FTDMS were always less than ...

B. E. Goodno

Papers

A field information-based system for estimating fish temperature tolerances