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Status of the Topeka Shiner in Iowa, new article in American Midland Naturalist


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#1 fundulus

fundulus
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Posted 26 September 2015 - 08:12 AM

Status of the Topeka Shiner in West-Central Iowa

Bryan D. Bakevich
Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Iowa State University, Ames 50011
Clay L. Pierce
U.S. Geological Survey, Iowa Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Iowa State University, Ames 50011
Michael C. Quist
U.S. Geological Survey, Idaho Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow 83844

Abstract

The Topeka shiner Notropis topeka is a federally endangered fish species that is estimated to occupy only 20% of its historic range.
In Iowa Topeka shiners have been in decline for decades. Our goal was to determine the present distribution of Topeka shiners in the
west-central portion of their range in Iowa and to characterize the extent of its decline. We compared the current distribution to
distributions generated from earlier collections. We found Topeka shiners in six of 22 watersheds where they occurred historically.
Status of Topeka shiners was judged to be stable in 27% of the watersheds, at risk in 45% of the watersheds, and possibly extirpated
in 27% of the watersheds. None were classified as increasing. Based on comparison of the historical distribution with more recent ones,
Topeka shiners in west-central Iowa showed a 27% decline a decade ago and currently exhibits a 73% decline in their distribution. The
collective evidence from four of five other states in the species range reveals similar declines. This study provides further information
on the local distribution and extent of decline for this federally endangered species with a greatly reduced and fragmented overall distribution.
Bruce Stallsmith, Huntsville, Alabama, US of A



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