Restricted Research - Award List, Note/Discussion Page
Fiscal Year: 2023
83 University of North Texas (141971)
Principal Investigator: Hoeinghaus,David Joseph
Total Amount of Contract, Award, or Gift (Annual before 2011): $ 499,882
Exceeds $250,000 (Is it flagged?): Yes
Start and End Dates: 2/4/22 - 2/28/26
Restricted Research: YES
Academic Discipline: Advanced Environmental Rsrch
Department, Center, School, or Institute: Research & Innovation
Title of Contract, Award, or Gift: Population assessment of Smalleye and Sharpnose shiners in the Brazos River
Name of Granting or Contracting Agency/Entity:
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
CFDA:
Program Title: none
Note:
The Sharpnose Shiner (Notropis oxyrhynchus) and Smalleye Shiner (Notropis buccula) are two species of small cyprinids endemic to the Brazos River, Texas. The species historically occurred throughout the Brazos River mainstem but are currently restricted to segments upstream of Possum Kingdom Reservoir. Both Sharpnose and Smalleye shiners have been of conservation concern since 1982, and in 2014 were federally listed as endangered species because of population declines due to habitat modifications. In 2020, USFWS presented a draft Recovery Plan for the Sharpnose and Smalleye shiners which intended to provide a vision (based on resilience and viability of focal species), strategy (restoring and management of unit where the populations occur), and criteria (review species’ status) to recover these two endangered species. Given the perceived threats affecting these two endangered species, all of which are expected to continue or increase over time, long-term monitoring is needed to understand and ultimately forecast population responses to changing environmental conditions and promote recovery of both species. Furthermore, monitoring approaches need to be assessed to identify best practices for effective monitoring of the Sharpnose and Smalleye shiner populations, associated fish assemblages, and habitat associations over time. The goals for this research are to 1) develop a long-term ecological monitoring program for the assessment of Sharpnose and Smalleye shiner populations and associated fish assemblages, their habitat use, and the quality of habitats used by different life stages, 2) improve understanding of the environmental factors (abiotic and biotic) affecting Sharpnose and Smalleye shiner population distributions and dynamics, 3) make recommendations to conservation professionals and other stakeholders based on findings that can inform conservation actions for the focal species at appropriate spatial and temporal scales, and 4) work with transparency to provide methodologies, data and results to stakeholders and diverse end-users in a variety of formats such as workshops and downloadable data files, protocols or R code, as well as provide opportunities for direct engagement and training as needed.
Discussion: No discussion notes