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Estuaries are the coastal areas where rivers meet the ocean. These areas provide critically important habitat to many fish and shellfish species, and support a variety of important activities (e.g. fishing, shipping, recreation, etc.). These areas, as the transition zone between the land and the sea, are also at high risk for negative effects from human activities including pollution, habitat conversion and loss, and changes to water flows. Understanding how human activities are affecting estuary habitats is important so resource managers can better manage these impacts, and ultimately, sustain estuaries and the fish populations that they support. To analyze estuary condition, a cumulative disturbance index was...
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Data on stream fishes were provided for use in the 2015 assessment by the Hawaii Division of Aquatic Resources. Data were collected from 1992 to 2010, and assemblages were sampled using standardized visual surveys (Higashi and Nishimoto 2007). Fish data indicated presence or absence of nine native taxa in stream reaches including five fluvial fish species, two shrimp species, a gastropod, and two species of native flagtails (treated as a single taxonomic group analytically) that periodically enter the stream from the nearshore coastal environment (Table 6). Fish presence-absence data were available for 403 perennial stream reaches throughout the five main Hawaiian Islands. Many different human landscape factors...
Tags: 2015, Hawaii, Method
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A significant number of dams are located in Iowa (> 4,000), Illinois (> 1,759), Indiana (> 1,088) and Ohio (> 2,600). Dams in the Central Midwest were built to provide mechanical power for mills, hydropower, recreation, water supplies, and water retention for urban and agricultural use. Nearly all of these dams impede fish movements in the region and particularly in the Mississippi River drainage and in the watershed of lakes Erie and Michigan. Some communities are removing dams to deal with obsolete infrastructure issues and to improve water quality, flow, and stream connectivity. For example, the removal of Black Berry Creek Dam near Aurora, Illinois in 2013 opened up 32 miles of the Fox River for fish spawning...
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The saltwater triggerfish, humuhumunukunukuapua'a, is Hawaii's State fish and is well known for its long name. Hawaii is the only State in the United States with a tropical rain forest. Hawaii is the most isolated population center on the face of the earth. Hawaii is 2,390 miles (3,846 kilometers) from California; 3,850 miles (6,196 kilometers) from Japan; 4,900 miles (7,886 kilometers) from China; and 5,280 miles (8,497 kilometers) from the Philippines. The Waialua River is one of five navigable rivers in Hawaii. It drains off Waialeale Mountain, which averages 488 inches (1,240 centimeters) of rain per year and is considered the wettest spot on earth. Honolulu is the largest city in the world (it has the longest...
Stream fish data providers for 2015 national assessment of stream fish habitats.
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The southeastern states contain the rapidly growing urban centers of Atlanta, Greenville, Columbia, Charlotte, and Winston-Salem/Raleigh with suburban corridors between them. In these cities and the surrounding suburbs, large areas of impervious surfaces replace natural streamside habitat, increase pollution and sedimentation, and alter water flow (hydrology). In this 2015 assessment, land cover type was estimated to be a major risk factor for about one-third of the estuaries of the Southeastern states. The United States Department of Agriculture reports that from 1982 to 2012 over 2.6 million acres of rural land in Georgia was developed. Development in North Carolina was almost as high, while South Carolina lost...
Developing Sub-Indices of Disturbance Variables within each of the four disturbance categories (Land Use/Land Cover, Alteration of River Flows, Sources of Pollution, and Estuary Eutrophication) were combined to create a sub-index of disturbance associated with each category. To calculate the sub-indices, a percent rank was calculated for variable scores in each estuary. Percent rank scores were inverted (i.e. 1-percent rank) where necessary to maintain consistency of interpretation, with low scores representing the highest degree of disturbance. Within each disturbance category, the average of each of the variable percent rank values was calculated. Finally, the percent rank of this average was calculated – this...
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Miami, Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville rank in the top 50 largest cities in the nation by area. Atlanta and New Orleans are the only other top 50 cities in the Eastern Gulf States region. These four Florida urban centers anchor what is known as the Florida Megaregion, one of eleven recognized in the United States. New Orleans and Baton Rouge are part of the Gulf Coast Megaregion. The growing urban sprawl throughout the Gulf States leads to increasing areas of impervious surface, which results in altered water flows and more urban runoff that transports high levels of nutrients and pollution to aquatic resources. For example in central Mississippi, pathogens, litter/trash, nutrients, and pesticides from increasing...
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Table displays native stream taxa included in the 2015 assessment.
Tags: 2015, Hawaii, Table
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Partnerships - Driftless Area Restoration Effort, Great Lakes Basin Fish Habitat Partnership, Ohio River Basin Fish Habitat Partnership, Reservoir Fisheries Habitat Partnership, and Fishers and Farmers Partnership Restored 738 acres of wetland and over 400 feet of stream habitat in Ohio. Removed 1 barrier in Iowa that reconnected 69 miles of stream habitat for Smallmouth Bass and many coolwater species. Restored 1750 feet of shoreline and added 100 feet of structure to lake shorelines in Illinois. Augmented three mussel populations on four Indiana rivers, giving two federally-endangered species a new foothold in the basin. Launched a basin-wide mussel initiative to identify and address stressors in quality streams...
Many of the Gulf Coast estuaries of Florida were scored to be at low or very low risk. However, Sarasota Bay scored at high risk, largely due to basin development. Although this variable is comprised of both urban and agricultural land use, urban development is the dominant landscape in this watershed. Other estuaries affected by urban land use are Galveston, Bay near Houston, and Lake Pontchartrain adjacent to New Orleans. In 2008, there were over 20 million people living in the coastal counties of the Gulf of Mexico, where the population increased by 103% since 1970. The Houston area, by highly stressed Galveston Bay, had the second most building permits, 56,863, in the nation in 2015. Runoff from these large...
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The Delta Smelt (Crystallaria asprella) is only found in the Sacramento - San Joaquin River Delta in California and requires estuaries for juvenile and adult habitat along with the ability to migrate into tributary rivers to spawn in the spring. Declines of Delta Smelt can largely be attributed to the changes and fluctuations in flow of the estuarine ecosystem. Reduced flows resulting from water projects have resulted in saltwater intrusion into the Delta, which has reduced the amount of preferred habitat for spawning and nursery areas. When increased amounts of water are released by the water projects, larvae and adults become entrained and die, and both the fish themselves and the food they depend on are washed...
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Partnership - Western Native Trout Initiative The Redband Trout, a group of Rainbow Trout, are remarkable fish. Some live as freshwater fish and some as anadromous fish that occupy both fresh and saltwater habitats during different stages of their lives. The interior Redband Trout is listed as a “Species of Conservation Concern” in most of its range. Its historic range covers eastern Washington and Oregon, northeastern California, central and southwestern Idaho, northwestern Montana, and parts of northern Nevada. Within this broad area, Redband Trout habitat can vary from higher elevation cold-water mountain streams to lower elevation warmer desert-type streams that have periods of low stream flows and high water...
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The Bull Trout (Salvelinus confluentus) is widely distributed within the region and occupies a variety of large lakes, small headwater streams and larger river systems. Of all the native salmonids in the Pacific Northwest, the Bull Trout generally has the most specific habitat requirements, which are often referred to as “the four Cs”: cold, clean, complex, and connected habitat. In November 1999, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed all Bull Trout populations within the lower 48 States of the United States as threatened pursuant to the Endangered Species Act. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2015 Bull Trout Recovery Plan lists historical habitat loss and fragmentation; interactions with nonnative species...
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Partnerships - Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture, Great Lakes Basin Fish Habitat Partnership and Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat Partnership Almost 32 miles of streams and 260 acres of riparian habitat were rehabilitated to improve Eastern Brook Trout habitat. Nearly 800 feet of riverine bottom in Maine was restored to improve spawning habitat for diadromous fish. Two acres of oysters were installed in the Great Bay Estuary (310,000 spat) to stabilize sediments, improve water quality, and provide habitat for species such as river herring, Atlantic Tomcod, Winter Founder, and Striped Bass. Partners removed or improved 46 barriers, which allowed inland and diadromous fish to access an additional 108 miles of riverine...
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Relative condition of fish habitat in streams of the Central Midwest States. Histogram shows percentage of total stream length in each condition class.
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Partnership - Western Native Trout Initiative Seldom are dams beneficial to fish populations but the Chadbourne Dam is an exception. The Shields River watershed has substantial conservation value for Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout ( Oncorhynchus clarkii bouvieri) because the watershed is the largest basin-level stronghold for Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout populations in Montana. Within the Shield River watershed, sixty-six percent of streams of historically occupied habitat still support Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout. This watershed is at the northern extent of the species’ native range, which also provides an opportunity to conserve Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout where they can be resilient to climate change. The Chadbourne...
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The Greater Redhorse (Moxostoma valenciennesi) is sensitive to habitat changes, particularly excessive siltation, and pollution. Other threats include river channelization, alterations to flow regimes, dam construction, and removal of riverside vegetation. Barriers are especially problematic as this is a wide-ranging species that has different flow and habitat requirements for different stages of development.
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The Chesapeake Logperch is native to Maryland and Pennsylvania; populations in Virginia have been extirpated. It requires rocky habitat in larger rivers and is listed as imperiled. This species has suffered from water quality and habitat degradation in the larger rivers in Mid-Atlantic States with mining, agriculture, and wastewater discharges, which causes elevated metal concentrations, suspended solids, nutrient loading, pH, and high oxygen demand in river waters.
Partnership - Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat Partnership Atlantic Sturgeon ( Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) spend a majority of their lives in the ocean but depend on freshwater tributaries for spawning and estuaries for rearing. Overfishing and habitat loss has resulted in the disappearance of this fish from a majority of its original range by the early 1900s. A remnant population of Atlantic Sturgeon continued to use the James River in Virginia, but in 2012, the Chesapeake Bay population segment of Atlantic sturgeon was listed as "endangered" under the Endangered Species Act by NOAA Fisheries. A lack of clean, hard substrate was determined to be one of the limiting factors in the James River for Atlantic...


map background search result map search result map Description of Urban Land Use as a Human Activity Fffecting Fish Habitat in Southeast Atlantic States Fish Habitat Partnerships Making a Difference: Interior Redband Trout Range-wide Assessment Habitat Trouble for Greater Redhorse in Central Midwest States Description of Urban Land Use as a Human Activity Affecting Fish Habitat in Eastern Gulf of Mexico States Habitat Trouble for Bull Trout in Pacific Coast States Habitat Trouble for Chesapeake Logperch in Mid-Atlantic States Facts About Hawai'i Fish Habitat Partnership Activities for the Central Midwest States Habitat Trouble for Delta Smelt in Pacific Coast States Central Midwest States - Risk of Current Degradation Chart (Stream Length) Description of Dams and Other Barriers as a Human Activity Affecting Fish Habitat in Central Midwest States Partnership Activities for the Northeastern States Habitat Trouble for Chesapeake Logperch in Mid-Atlantic States Description of Urban Land Use as a Human Activity Fffecting Fish Habitat in Southeast Atlantic States Partnership Activities for the Northeastern States Habitat Trouble for Greater Redhorse in Central Midwest States Fish Habitat Partnership Activities for the Central Midwest States Central Midwest States - Risk of Current Degradation Chart (Stream Length) Description of Dams and Other Barriers as a Human Activity Affecting Fish Habitat in Central Midwest States Description of Urban Land Use as a Human Activity Affecting Fish Habitat in Eastern Gulf of Mexico States Habitat Trouble for Bull Trout in Pacific Coast States Habitat Trouble for Delta Smelt in Pacific Coast States Fish Habitat Partnerships Making a Difference: Interior Redband Trout Range-wide Assessment Facts About Hawai'i