California’s native fishes are mostly endemic, with no place to go as climate change increases water temperatures and alters stream flows. Many of the alien fishes, however, are likely to benefit from the effects of climate change. The goal of this project is to synthesize life history traits, population trends, status, and threats, including climate change, for all fishes in the state. We have found that 25% of the endemic fishes are now in danger of extinction. Climate change in conjunction with alien species, agriculture, and dams pose the greatest threat to native fishes. Preliminary results from two regional analyses suggest that native fishes in the Sierra Nevada are slightly less (74%) vulnerable to climate change than native fishes in the Klamath Basin (94%), perhaps reflecting prevailing life histories. Due to the regional differences in alien-native interactions, managers may expect that mechanisms expanding the range of alien fishes will differ between regions. Alien fishes may move into “empty” habitats in the Klamath Basin but expand their range in the Sierra Nevada by directly displacing native fishes. Because climate change effects and threats to fishes differ by zoogeographic region, we propose adaptation strategies specific to each region.
The goal of this project is to synthesize information Dr. Peter Moyle and his students have been systematically gathering since the release of the book Inland Fishes of California in 2002, to allow agencies to better predict the impacts of climate change on specific waterways and regions, as well as to develop management and adaptation strategies to keep native fishes fromextinction.
Objectives include (1) final development of a user friendly data base andprotocol that enables managers to determine current status of the 129 nativeinland fishes of California, (2) final development of a user friendly data base andprotocol that enables managers to predict the effects of climate change on the 129native inland fishes of California, and 51 alien species, (3) development ofstandard narratives and GIS-based maps for declining native species. All threeobjectives were posted on a website and made available for easy downloading andupdating. These ambitious objectives can be accomplished because much of thework has been accomplished or is underway, from other funding. An additionalobjective is to recommend climate-change adaptation strategies for the majoraquatic zoogeographic regions of California, through identification of key refugestreams for fish assemblages, including streams that could benefit from improvedregulation by dams.
