Files
Abstract
Streams and rivers in the Southern Appalachian Mountains support remarkably biodiverse ecosystems that are increasingly threatened by humans. Effective and durable freshwater conservation requires a comprehensive understanding of how fish and humans engage with streams. We conducted three studies to investigate the dynamics of human-stream-fish relationships in Southern Appalachia from multiple disciplinary perspectives and across multiple scales of time and space. First, we evaluated the validity of simplifying assumptions of a stream fish bioenergetics habitat selection model and compared performance of simplified and complex model variants to identify conservation applications. We found mixed support for the simplifying assumptions but observed that simplified models generally performed as well or better than complex models. Second, we used species distribution models to investigate the influence of geomorphology, climate, and land use on the distribution of Brook (Salvelinus fontinalis), Rainbow (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and Brown (Salmo trutta) Trout in Southern Appalachia. We found that slope and climate were important predictors of trout distribution in Southern Appalachia, that allopatric and sympatric populations of Brook Trout were distributed along similar environmental gradients, and that trout distribution patterns were discernible at the stream-segment scale, but not the subwatershed scale. Third, we explored the potential for a conservation documentary film to generate support for conservation by showing the film to undergraduate students and measuring the relationship between shifts in conservation support and engagement with the film. We observed that a long and short conservation film increased conservation support among viewers, that film engagement was positively correlated with shifts in conservation support, and that these shifts persisted over time for viewers of the short film. Collectively, this body of work suggests that 1) refining our ability to quantify and model habitat characteristics of stream fish focal positions, 2) designing species-specific conservation strategies that prioritize habitat preservation at appropriate spatial scales, and 3) crafting compelling and engaging conservation narratives can help reconcile human use of the landscape with freshwater ecosystem integrity. Creative, integrative research programs that investigate multiple dimensions of fish-stream-human relationships can inform durable, pragmatic conservation approaches in a world where human activity continues to impact nature.