Applying ecological thresholds to inform conservation and restoration efforts for stream fishes
6 affiliations
- 1Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI USA
- 2Biodiversity, Ecology, and Conservation Research Group, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria
- 3Institute of Landscape Development, Recreation and Conservation Planning, Department of Landscape, Water and Infrastructure, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
- 4Department of Community and Ecosystem Ecology, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin, Germany
- 5Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management, Department of Ecosystem Management, Climate and Biodiversity, University of Natural Resources and Life Science, Vienna, Austria
- 6Department of Biology, Chemistry, and Pharmacy, Institute of Biology, Free University Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Abstract
Understanding stream fish responses to landscape stressors is fundamental to designing management strategies to conserve and restore fluvial ecosystems. Landscape stressors, including agricultural, pasture, and urban land use, often elicit threshold responses in stream fishes, causing rapid declines in abundance with comparatively small increases in stressor intensity. However, the use of thresholds to inform conservation and restoration decision-making remains limited, particularly when targeting entire stream fish assemblages at continental spatial extents. Here, we apply known threshold values to characterize the vulnerability of stream fishes across ~1.73 million stream reaches in the United States and Europe. We develop a decision-support framework that integrates threshold status indices with network catchment summaries of protected area coverage to prioritize (a) conservation actions in poorly protected catchments approaching land use thresholds and (b) restoration actions in catchments that have exceeded thresholds despite high protected area coverage. Our findings highlight the vulnerability of stream fishes to landscape stressors across two continents and demonstrate how integrating threshold-based vulnerability assessments with protected area summaries can support management decision-making and help address the freshwater biodiversity crisis.
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BibTeX
@article{brumm2026applying,
title = {{Applying ecological thresholds to inform conservation and restoration efforts for stream fishes}},
author = {Kyle J. Brumm and Rafaela Schinegger and Marlene Schürz and Georg Gruber and Florian Borgwardt and Carina Seliger and Dana M. Infante},
journal = {npj Biodiversity},
year = {2026},
month = jun,
doi = {10.1038/s44185-026-00144-7},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s44185-026-00144-7},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Applying ecological thresholds to inform conservation and restoration efforts for stream fishes
AU - Kyle J. Brumm
AU - Rafaela Schinegger
AU - Marlene Schürz
AU - Georg Gruber
AU - Florian Borgwardt
AU - Carina Seliger
AU - Dana M. Infante
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/06/01
JO - npj Biodiversity
DO - 10.1038/s44185-026-00144-7
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s44185-026-00144-7
AB - Understanding stream fish responses to landscape stressors is fundamental to designing management strategies to conserve and restore fluvial ecosystems. Landscape stressors, including agricultural, pasture, and urban land use, often elicit threshold responses in stream fishes, causing rapid declines in abundance with comparatively small increases in stressor intensity. However, the use of thresholds to inform conservation and restoration decision-making remains limited, particularly when targeting entire stream fish assemblages at continental spatial extents. Here, we apply known threshold values to characterize the vulnerability of stream fishes across ~1.73 million stream reaches in the United States and Europe. We develop a decision-support framework that integrates threshold status indices with network catchment summaries of protected area coverage to prioritize (a) conservation actions in poorly protected catchments approaching land use thresholds and (b) restoration actions in catchments that have exceeded thresholds despite high protected area coverage. Our findings highlight the vulnerability of stream fishes to landscape stressors across two continents and demonstrate how integrating threshold-based vulnerability assessments with protected area summaries can support management decision-making and help address the freshwater biodiversity crisis.
SN - 2731-4243
ER -