Location

Groningen, The Netherlands

Event Website

http://fishpassage.umass.edu/

Start Date

22-6-2015 2:30 PM

End Date

22-6-2015 2:45 PM

Description

Abstract:

The choice of study species when conducting environmental assessments of hydropower facilities is of great importance from a licensing and policy perspective. Power analyses are commonly used to provide quantitative backing for the numbers of study organisms and trials used, but there is not frequent use of quantitative methods for choosing appropriate study species. Species choice can be especially important when measuring the impacts of ecosystem alteration, such as in a hydropower system, when study species must be chosen that are both sensitive to the alteration and of sufficient abundance for study. In this study, we step through two examples using a combination of GIS, a fish traits database, and multivariate statistical analyses to present a quantitative, traits-based approach for designating study species. In our first example, we present a case study where we select broadly-representative fish species for understanding the effects of turbine passage on fishes based on traits that suggest sensitivity to turbine passage. In our second example, we build off of our first example and present a framework for selecting a surrogate species for an endangered species. We suggest that our traits-based framework can provide quantitative backing and added justification to selection of study species while also delineating the expanded inference space of study results.

Comments

Presenting Author Bio: Dr. Brenda Pracheil is a Research and Development Staff Associate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and an Associate Editor of the North American Journal of Fisheries Management. She received B.S. and B.A. degrees in Biological Sciences and Philosophy and a Ph.D.in Natural Resources from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a M.S. in Zoology from Michigan State University, and conducted postdoctoral studies at University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Share

COinS
 
Jun 22nd, 2:30 PM Jun 22nd, 2:45 PM

Session B2: A Quantitative, Traits-based Approach for Choosing and Prioritizing Study Species for Evaluating the Impacts of Turbine Passage

Groningen, The Netherlands

Abstract:

The choice of study species when conducting environmental assessments of hydropower facilities is of great importance from a licensing and policy perspective. Power analyses are commonly used to provide quantitative backing for the numbers of study organisms and trials used, but there is not frequent use of quantitative methods for choosing appropriate study species. Species choice can be especially important when measuring the impacts of ecosystem alteration, such as in a hydropower system, when study species must be chosen that are both sensitive to the alteration and of sufficient abundance for study. In this study, we step through two examples using a combination of GIS, a fish traits database, and multivariate statistical analyses to present a quantitative, traits-based approach for designating study species. In our first example, we present a case study where we select broadly-representative fish species for understanding the effects of turbine passage on fishes based on traits that suggest sensitivity to turbine passage. In our second example, we build off of our first example and present a framework for selecting a surrogate species for an endangered species. We suggest that our traits-based framework can provide quantitative backing and added justification to selection of study species while also delineating the expanded inference space of study results.

https://scholarworks.umass.edu/fishpassage_conference/2015/June22/27