Grant Opportunity at Gila River Basin Native Fishes Conservation Program at Kansas State University

The Gila River Basin Native Fishes Conservation Program (Program) was established in response to the 1994, 2001, and 2008 biological opinions, which required mitigation for the negative effects of the transfer of Colorado River water to the Gila River Basin. The Program is focused on five federally-listed fishes (spikedace, loach minnow, Gila chub, Gila topminnow, and razorback sucker) and the Chiricahua leopard frog, but also include conservation actions directed at other native aquatic and semi-aquatic species in the Gila River basin.  One of the goals of the Program is to replicate populations in new locations to reduce the risk of losing unique populations and to expand the distribution of the species.  Several attempts have been made to establish new populations with varying degrees of success.  There is little information however which explains which repatriation attempts work and which do not. 

This project is to conduct a range-wide, multi-scale habitat assessment of loach minnow and spikedace to inform management decisions regarding the habitat requirements of these species and potential opportunities to repatriate extirpated populations.  Proposed field surveys will quantify associated fish communities and habitats of these species at spatial scales from microhabitats to watersheds.  In addition, this project will quantify the temporal dynamics of abundance and habitat use at selected sample sites across two years of sampling.  Sample sites will include locations where these species have been extirpated and repatriated to test the role of habitat and fish community structure in the sustainability of populations in those areas.  Finally, quantitative estimates of population abundances will be coordinated with an ongoing range-wide genetic analysis to identify associations between habitat, population size and metrics of population genetic structure.