The Conservation Need - Confronting the Freshwater Biodiversity Crisis across the Great Plains
Freshwater ecosystems are among the most imperiled globally, with extinction rates exceeding those of terrestrial systems (Ricciardi & Rasmussen 1999; Strayer & Dudgeon 2010). North American freshwater mussels are considered one of the most endangered faunal groups on the continent (Haag and Williams 2014), and Great Plains fishes have experienced disproportionate declines due to hydrologic modification, channelization, and habitat simplification (Perkin et al. 2015; Hoagstrom et al. 2011). As Great Plains aquatic ecosystems continue to experience profound ecological change, several interrelated pressures are driving the decline of native freshwater biodiversity:
- Hydrologic alteration from dams, diversions, and channelization has fundamentally altered natural flow regimes.
- Hydrologic alteration in the Missouri River basin and associated tributaries has fundamentally reshaped sediment transport, channel morphology, and habitat heterogeneity (Galat & Lipkin 2000; Jacobson & Galat 2008). Benthic specialists such as chubs (Macrhybopsis spp.) and pelagic broadcast spawners are particularly sensitive to these changes.
- Habitat fragmentation by a dense network of barriers and obstacles across the landscape is limiting fish movement and recruitment, isolating local populations across river networks.
- Connectivity is declining between rivers, tributaries, and floodplain habitats.
- Agriculturally-driven nutrient loading and sedimentation have degraded water quality to the extent that many rivers, streams, and lakes across the region no longer meet safety standards for immersion recreation. Current legal limitations of the Clean Water Act–including recent changes to Section 404, the waters of the US (WOTUS) rule–make it difficult to enforce and mitigate against non-point source pollution impacts to water quality at the landscape scale (Stets et al. 2020).
- Climate-driven shifts in temperature, flow variability, and drought frequency are placing increasing thermal and hydrologic stress on native fishes adapted to different hydrologic patterns.
- Climate projections indicate increasing frequency of extreme precipitation events and drought cycles across the northern Great Plains (USGCRP 2018), with implications for temperature, flow intermittency, and recruitment dynamics in prairie fishes (Whitney et al. 2016).
- Establishment and range expansion of invasive and non-native species threaten surviving populations of native species, particularly native small-bodied minnows in Great Plains streams and rivers.
These pressures disproportionately affect native-nongame species, which historically have received limited research and conservation investment compared to recreationally valuable fishes. Many Great Plains native fishes remain poorly studied, with incomplete life history information, limited captive propagation knowledge, and inadequate recovery infrastructure (Lackmann et al. 2024).
Freshwater mussels face even greater compounded conservation challenges, including high sensitivity to water quality degradation and dependence on host fish species for reproduction. Because their successful reproduction hinges on host-fish availability, suitable flow regimes, and stable substrate conditions (Haag and Williams 2014), declines in host fish populations can cascade into native mussel reproductive failure.
Moreover, across much of the northern Great Plains, few facilities exist with the expertise and infrastructure to support sustained mussel propagation and conservation research, and current conservation and research infrastructure in the northern Great Plains remains limited relative to the conservation need. At the time of this writing, there is still not one formally-trained federal malacologist dedicated to freshwater mussel monitoring and recovery for the entire USFWS Region 6 FAC (Fisheries and Aquatic Conservation Programs), and current monitoring surveys and captive mussel rearing programs lack the capacity to scale up their efforts across species’ ranges.
Limitations of Existing Native Fish and Mussel Propagation Infrastructure and Conservation Research on the Great Plains
State and federal hatcheries across the Great Plains were primarily constructed in the late 19th and early 20th century damming era to support recreational fisheries production (Jones 1963). While these facilities remain essential, most face growing structural and programmatic limitations:
- Aging, crumbling infrastructure requiring major modernization to meet modern fish propagation needs
- Limited to no rearing space dedicated to native nongame species
- Staffing and funding constraints that prioritize sportfish production
- Restricted capacity for experimental propagation and research
- Insufficient infrastructure for native freshwater mussel, crayfish, or other freshwater invertebrate propagation or conservation research
- Dependence on fluctuating agency priorities, funding cycles, and changes in federal regulations–as well as recent sweeping cuts and de-staffing efforts–has consistently pushed work on behalf of native species conservation to the proverbial backburner
As a result, propagation and recovery efforts for imperiled native fishes are often episodic rather than sustained, and many species lack dedicated facilities capable of long-term conservation programs. Furthermore, the lack of basic life history information or sufficient contemporary occurrence data on some species has precluded the development of species recovery plans or captive propagation protocols.
Beyond public fish, wildlife, and water quality management agencies, university research programs at Great Plains public and private higher education institutions, including USGS partnerships like Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units, are also often structurally ill-equipped and insufficient to meet these pressing conservation needs due to frequent student and faculty turnover, skyrocketing overhead costs, and inefficiencies due to institutional siloing as it relates to academic publishing or data sharing policies.
There is a clear need for an independent institution focused specifically on:
- Imperiled and historically-overlooked species
- Research-driven propagation and recovery
- Adaptive conservation informed by applied freshwater science
- Long-term, mission-centered investment into the recovery of Great Plains freshwater community assemblages and aquatic ecosystems stretching beyond the short timescales of ever-shifting public policy and funding priorities.
The Value of an Independent, Regional Freshwater Conservation Research Institute: Sustaining Capacity & Fostering Coordination Across States
An independent nonprofit conservation institute provides several critical advantages:
- Continuity across changing political and policy environments
- Ability to pursue long-term species recovery goals
- Flexibility to address emerging ecological challenges
- Capacity to integrate research, propagation, and outreach
- Ability to leverage partnerships to obtain sufficient funding and staffing capacity across jurisdictions
- Enhanced eligibility for philanthropic and foundation funding
- Stable institutional identity focused solely on freshwater conservation science separate from traditional public institution bureaucracy and appropriation cycles