Fish_to_Guilds_(Godreau)

Ecological Flows Science Advisory Board
August 28, 2012

Chris Goudreau, N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission
Jennifer Phelan, RTI International
Kimberly Meitzen, The Nature Conservancy
Review
RTI and TNC are investigating flow-ecology
relationships by comparing flow metrics to fish
abundance
RTI
Compare different locations, times
Statewide
TNC
Compare same location over time
Four basins (LTN, CFR, TAR, RKE)
Fish Dataset
NCDWQ – wadeable streams; not trout
Why Use Guilds?
Most species can be grouped by the habitats they use
based on life history requirements and physiology
“Smooths out” data compared to species data
Allows comparison among streams, basins, provinces
Used in habitat-based models (e.g., PHabSim)
Guild Frameworks
NCDWR (14) ENTRIX 2003 (9) Aadland 1993 (6) Vadas & Orth 2000 (7) Persinger 2010 (4)
shallow fast higher velocity Shallow Fast Coarse Fast Riffle Riffle Riffle
shallow fast moderate velocity
shallow fast lower velocity Shallow Fast Slow Riffle Riffle Run
deep fast, fine substrate
deep fast, gravel/cobble substrate Deep Fast Raceway Fast Generalist Fast Generalist
deep fast, coarse substrate Deep Fast Cover
shallow slow, coarse substrate Shallow Rheophilic
shallow slow, young of year Shallow Slow
shallow slow, aquatic vegetation cover
shallow slow, woody debris cover Shallow Slow Cover
shallow slow, fine substrate, no cover Shallow Slow Fine Shallow Pool Pool Run Pool Run
deep slow, no cover Deep Slow Medium Pool Open Pool
deep slow, cover Deep Slow Cover Deep Pool Pool Cover Pool Cover
deep slow, cover (version 2)

Guild Frameworks
Vadas Persinger
Guild Frameworks
Decided to use simple framework
Reduce problems of assigning to similar adjacent types
Easier for public to understand
Restrict guilds to habitats indicative of flow (i.e., ignore
substrate/cover parameters, which we can't manage)
All the DWR PHabSim guilds (14) can be grouped within
the flow-based guilds, except for backwater
Proposed NC Guild Structure
Persinger NC Study Comment
Riffle Riffle
Fast-generalist Riffle-run Name change only
Pool-run Pool-run
Pool-cover Pool Name change; with or without cover
Margin Added; shallow-slow habitats
Backwater Added; mostly coastal
Proposed NC Guild Structure
De
p
t
h

Velocity
Pool
Pool-Run
Riffle-Run
Margin
Riffle
Backwater
Assigning Fish to Guilds
Used “Fishes of” books
Freshwater Fishes of Virginia (Jenkins and Burkhead 1994)
The Fishes of Tennessee (Etnier and Starnes 1993)
Freshwater Fishes of South Carolina (Rohde et al. 2009)
Inland Fishes of Mississippi (Ross 2001)
Fishes of Alabama (Boschung and Mayden 2004)
These books describe habitat use based on direct
observation and summarizing information from other
sources
Typically habitat was described for both spawning and
adult/juvenile lifestages
Assigning Fish to Guilds
Goudreau made initial review of books and assigned
guilds to spreadsheet of fish
Rohde and Tracy reviewed/edited the spreadsheet and
added assignments to those species not described in
the books
Some species use multiple habitat types
Made notes on species that are exotic, introduced to
particular basins, or estuarine
Results
Adult/Juvenile Spawning
Riffle 15 21
Riffle-run 25 47
Pool-run 49 41
Pool 60 33
Margin 6 7
Backwater 16 22
Note: Species using multiple guilds were assigned to predominant guild
Use of Guild Data – RTI
Focus on Riffle-Run guild
Flow sensitive
High number of species
Use if either lifestage (adult or spawning) is in guild, but
must only use Riffle-Run
Select five Riffle-Run species
High count (>100 records)
Wide geographic distribution (multiple basins)
Creek Chub, Fantail Darter, Rosyside Dace, Central
Stoneroller, Blacknose Dace
Use of Guild Data – TNC
Focus on all Guilds, example application:
What is the percent occupancy by guild type at each
survey site and each survey date?
Is guild composition and percent distribution at a site
consistent over time? If not, how is it changing, and why?
Select sites with multiple surveys over time
Measure changes in guild occupancy over time at a specific
locations
Possible controls on variation: Flow alteration, combined flow
and habitat changes, seasonality and lifestage characteristics…