Webinar: The Rarest Fish in the World-Desert Fishes and Their Response to a Changing Climate

Date: Tuesday, April 14, 2015 at 10 AM Pacific Daylight Time

Presenter: Dr. Scott A. Bonar

Abstract:
Fish species found in North American deserts represent some of the most unique, rare taxa in the world. Because these fishes live in aquatic “islands”- i.e., springs, streams and rivers separated from other water bodies by vast, harsh deserts- they have evolved to cope with life on the edge in their aquatic environments. Fish in arid lands are diverse, ranging from pupfish that inhabit small drying springs 40°C and almost five times the salinity of seawater; to some of the most southern trout species in North America; to the largest minnow in North America, a fish nearly 2 m long. A changing climate is putting these species at critical risk.

Here I show how the habitat of these fishes is becoming increasingly fragmented and warmer; and discuss specific research being conducted to understand their tolerance to high temperatures and changes in habitat. Furthermore, I will show how research is providing managers tools to help cope with climate change such as techniques to cool streams, methods to captively propagate species to help prevent their extinction as drying waters become less habitable, and methods to reduce interactions with nonnative species in the few water bodies remaining. Protecting these genetic masterpieces from extinction in the face of climate change is a monumental challenge facing aquatic conservation biologists of the Southwest.

Biography:
Dr. Scott A. Bonar worked for 29 years in natural resources programs of state and federal government, academia, and private industry, authoring over 100 publications, including 2 books, managing over 60 natural resources projects, and supervising over 80 employees and graduate students. His work focuses on fisheries management, especially introduced fish and desert fish management and ecology. This work was used to develop 14 laws or policies, and was featured in the Associated Press, CNN, CBS and a variety of local media outlets. He teaches graduate courses at the University of Arizona on Fisheries Management and Biopolitics and mentors graduate student research. He is a Past President of the Western Division of the American Fisheries Society (AFS), Current President of the AFS Introduced Fish Section and Standard Sampling Committee Chair of the AFS Fisheries Management Section. In this capacity Dr. Bonar led an effort to standardize inland fisheries sampling methods across North America, which involved over 280 biologists from 107 different agencies, organizations and universities in three different countries. Published in 2009, Standard Methods for Sampling North American Freshwater Fishes has remained a best seller of the society since then. Dr. Bonar enjoys working with young professionals and staff, and authored The Conservation Professional’s Guide to Working With People, a book published by Island Press which discusses how professionals can effectively work with others to accomplish conservation goals and called a “must read” by the journal Ecology.