SFS Annual Meeting

5/23/2018  |   09:00 - 09:15   |  410 A

PREDICTED MORPHOLOGIC RESPONSES TO CLIMATE-INDUCED HYDROLOGIC CHANGES VARY AMONG POPULATIONS OF FRESHWATER FISHES Predicting future changes in habitat-associated fitness traits is an important step in understanding the ecological and evolutionary consequences of environmental change in freshwater systems. However, models of phenotypic responses to future climate change typically assume populations will respond similarly across the range of a species, while local adaptation and spatial variation in environmental changes are rarely considered. We quantified phenotype-environment associations between body shape and streamflow variables among populations of six species of minnows (Cyprinidae) to generate models of phenotypic responses to future environmental change. We then used future streamflow estimates to predict the body shape within populations from 2070-2099, assuming the same phenotype-environment relationship. Species differed in the degree of morphological change expected under future streamflow conditions, and spatial patterns of divergence indicate that populations are not expected to respond uniformly across their range. Our findings demonstrate that species-specific ecology and spatial variation in environmental change underlies differences in the magnitude and directionality of phenotype-environment associations, and responses to climate change may vary markedly at both the species and population level.

Huicheng Chien (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), SUNY New Paltz, chienh@newpaltz.edu;


Jason Knouft (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Saint Louis University, jason.knouft@slu.edu;


Kara Andres (Primary Presenter/Author), Cornell University, kja68@cornell.edu;


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5/23/2018  |   09:15 - 09:30   |  410 A

ALPINE STREAMS FED BY SUBTERRANEAN ICE AS POTENTIAL CLIMATE REFUGIA FOR TEMPERATURE-SENSITIVE TAXA Managing landscapes for climate refugia is likely the best strategy to promote persistence of temperature-sensitive taxa with limited dispersal capacity. Mountain stream networks represent habitat mosaics due largely to hydrological source heterogeneity including various sources of meltwater inhabited by vulnerable cold-stenothermic taxa. We collected environmental and biological data from Tetons (Wyoming) alpine streams representing runoff from snowpack (N=3), glaciers (N=4), and subterranean ice (N=4). We asked: 1) Are streams environmentally distinguishable according to streambed stability, suspended solids, temperature regime, and conductivity? 2) Are macroinvertebrate, diatom, and microbial assemblages predictably different according to hydrological source? 3) Is water temperature colder and/or more stable in streams representing a specific source? All answers appear to be “yes”. Streams fed by subterranean ice (“icy seeps”) maintain extremely low (mean <2°C), temporally stable water temperature. Vulnerable cold-stenothermic stonefly species were significant indicators for, although not exclusive to, icy seeps. Assemblages of both prokaryotes and diatoms were also distinct in icy seeps, including 4 indicator bacterial families and at least 2 diatom taxa. We argue that icy seeps and their sources, heretofore neglected in stream ecological studies, should be managed as climate refugia.

Debra Finn (Primary Presenter/Author), Missouri State University, dfinn@missouristate.edu;
Associate Professor Stream Ecology

Lusha Tronstad (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Wyoming, Wyoming Natural Diversity Database, tronstad@uwyo.edu;


Scott Hotaling (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Washington State University, scott.hotaling@uky.edu;


J. Joseph Giersch (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Flathead Lake Biological Station, jgiersch@usgs.gov;


Rebecca Bixby (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of New Mexico, bbixby@unm.edu;


Lydia Zeglin (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Kansas State University, lzeglin@ksu.edu;


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5/23/2018  |   09:30 - 09:45   |  410 A

DROUGHT INTENSIFICATION TRANSFORMS MULTIPLE ECOSYSTEM PROCESSES Droughts are intensifying globally, with potentially profound implications for the functioning of freshwater ecosystems. In the first characterisation of multiple dimensions of ecosystem functioning (multifunctionality) in a large-scale field experiment we found strong – but non-linear – impacts across a drought intensity gradient in stream mesocosms. Individual functions varied, but sudden changes were common, especially at the boundaries of three critical drought transitions associated with habitat contraction, fragmentation and drying. Several functions (e.g. gross primary production) were surprisingly sensitive to low-intensity drought, declining strongly in response to reduced water level. Drought altered the carbon cycle, associated food web processes, including those linking basal producers to top predators, and nutrient stocks. We demonstrate that even relatively small changes in habitat during drought can trigger dramatic changes in functioning. Consequently, future drought intensification can be expected to have far-reaching consequences for aquatic ecosystem service provision in freshwater habitats.

Mark Ledger (Primary Presenter/Author), University of Birmingham, m.e.ledger@bham.ac.uk;


Thomas Aspin (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Birmingham, ta9287@my.bristol.ac.uk;


Kris Hart (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Queen Mary University of London, k.hart@bham.ac.uk;


Kieran Khamis (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Birmingham, k.khamis@bham.ac.uk;


Matthew O'Callaghan (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Birmingham, mattgdns@yahoo.co.uk;


Mark Trimmer (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Queen Mary University of London, mtrimmer@qmw.ac.uk;


Guy Woodward (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Imperial College London, gu.woodward@imperial.ac.uk;


Zining Wang (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Birmingham, zxw305@bham.ac.uk;


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5/23/2018  |   09:45 - 10:00   |  410 A

ECO-ENGINEERING DECISION SCALING: A FRAMEWORK FOR INCORPORATING FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS IN WATER MANAGEMENT DECISION-MAKING AND CLIMATE RISK ASSESSMENT Ecosystems have been historically neglected in water management, but growing interest in climate-resilient water systems has created new opportunities for ecologists to engage in water planning and decision making. Yet, ecosystems are complex and do not readily lend themselves to the analytical approaches favored by engineers and planners in assessing project costs, benefits, and climate risks. Incorporating ecosystems in water management requires a decision-analytic framework that accommodates relevant ecological indicators, while accounting for climate change and other sources of uncertainty. We have developed an approach called eco-engineering decision scaling (EEDS) for guiding water and ecosystem management under uncertainty. The approach is designed to assess the ecological consequences of water management decisions in a changing climate and to quantify tradeoffs among economic and environmental objectives. We describe two applications of EEDS – the first evaluates the effects of dam operations on floodplain ecosystems and flood risk on the Iowa River, USA. The second considers the role of environmental water reserves in preserving ecosystem integrity and supporting climate change adaptation in Mexico. Future case studies are expected to refine EEDS, which will enhance its utility in informing ecologically-sustainable water management.

Ted Grantham (Primary Presenter/Author), University of California, Berkeley, tgrantham@berkeley.edu;


John Matthews (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Alliance for Global Water Adaptation, johoma@alliance4water.org;


LeRoy Poff (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Colorado State University, n.poff@rams.colostate.edu;


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5/23/2018  |   10:00 - 10:15   |  410 A

EXTREME DROUGHT DRIVES RANGE CONTRACTION OF SALMONID FISHES Droughts are a complex meteorological phenomenon, with impacts that are not purely influenced by an overall lack of rain, but also by the spatial and temporal patterns of rainfall. California’s recent multi-year drought, potentially the most severe encountered in the past 500 years in terms of total rainfall, was also unusual in the timing of its large rainfall events. Using long-term flow records, we demonstrate that during the 2013-14 water year, the timing of large flows was shifted late in the winter. This created a mismatch between the occurrence of elevated flows, required to allow adult salmonids access to small tributary breeding habitats, and the phenology of breeding salmonid fishes. Using data from multiple monitoring efforts in central and northern California, we show that the hydro-phenological mismatch eliminated access to breeding and rearing habitat for three species of salmonid fishes (Oncorhynchus kisutch, O. mykiss, O. tshawtyscha) based on absence of adults or juveniles from “perennial” salmonid habitats. Our results emphasize that magnitude and timing of winter storms can dramatically influence the distributions of migratory salmon and trout in California near their southern range limits, shifting their overall distributions down-river.

Stephanie Carlson (Primary Presenter/Author), Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, California, U.S., smcarlson@berkeley.edu;


Suzanne Kelson (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Nevada, Reno, skelson@unr.edu;


Cleo Woelfle-Erskine (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Washington, cleowe@uw.edu;


Mariska Obedzinski (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), California Sea Grant, mobedzinski@ucsd.edu;


Allan Renger (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, allan.renger@wildlife.ca.gov;


Sally Thompson (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of California, Berkeley, sally.thompson@berkeley.edu;


Mary Power (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of California, Berkeley, mepower@berkeley.edu;
Dr. Mary E. Power is Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. She was awarded an honorary doctorate by Umea University, the Kempe Medal for distinguished ecologists, and the Hutchinson Award from the American Society of Limnologists and Oceanographers. She is a member of the California Academy of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and National Academy of Sciences, USA. She has served on the Editorial Board of PNAS (2014 to present) and Science (2006-2009). Mary also served as President of the American Society of Naturalists, and of the Ecological Society of America. Since 1988, she has been the Faculty Director of the Angelo Coast Range Reserve, (one of the UC Natural Reserve System sites, a 3500 ha reserve protected for university teaching and research). She has studied food webs in temperate and tropical rivers, as well as linkages of rivers, watersheds and near-shore environments. Focal organisms include cyanobacteria, algae, invertebrates, fish, estuarine crustaceans and terrestrial grasshoppers, spiders, lizards, birds and bats. By studying how key ecological interactions depend on landscape and temporal contexts, her group hopes to learn how river-structured ecosystems will respond to changes over space and time in climate, land use, and biota. Her group also collaborates closely with Earth and atmospheric scientists in site-based research to investigate linkages among riverine, upland, and near-shore ocean ecosystems.

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5/23/2018  |   10:15 - 10:30   |  410 A

THERMAL CONDITION OF TWO SANTA MONICA MOUNTAIN TROUT STREAMS IN PERSISTENT DROUGHT Adverse effects of rising global average temperatures to freshwater habitat conditions will be pronounced in Mediterranean climates such as the Santa Monica Mountains (Dallas 2013). Despite uncertainty in establishing precise thermal thresholds for southern California O. mykiss, this species is vulnerable to dry-season or drought-related temperature change approaching or exceeding tolerance limits, as low flows prohibit access to refuge habitats (Spina 2007). The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between drought and freshwater temperature in two Santa Monica Mountain streams, and potential for thermal stress to native O. mykiss populations. Dry season water temperatures were monitored 2011 to 2016 and compared to local weather data and stream habitat conditions (air temperature and humidity, annual rainfall, daily mean flow and pool drying), to identify potential change to thermal suitability of wetted stream habitat.

Elizabeth Montgomery (Primary Presenter/Author), Resource Conservation District Santa Monica Mountains / Michigan Technological University, montgomerylizzy@gmail.com;


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