Freshwater conservation planning in the far north of Ontario, Canada: identifying priority watersheds for the conservation of fish biodiversity in an intact boreal landscape

• Published in: FACETS
• Main Authors: Southee, F. Meg, Edwards, Brie A., Chetkiewicz, Cheryl-Lesley B., O’Connor, Constance M.
• Other Authors: Favaro, Brett
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 2021
• Subjects: Multidisciplinary; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Canada; Climate change; First Nations
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/facets-2020-0015; https://facetsjournal.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/facets-2020-0015

Freshwater ecosystems show more biodiversity loss than terrestrial or marine systems. We present a systematic conservation planning analysis in the Arctic Ocean drainage basin in Ontario, Canada, to identify key watersheds for the conservation of 30 native freshwater fish, including four focal species: lake sturgeon, lake whitefish, brook trout, and walleye. We created species distribution models for 30 native fish species and accounted for anthropogenic impacts. We used the “prioritizr” package in R to select watersheds that maximize species targets, minimize impacts, and meet area-based targets based on the Convention on Biological Diversity commitment to protect 17% of terrestrial and freshwater areas by 2020 and the proposed target to protect 30% by 2030. We found that, on average, 17.4% and 29.8% of predicted species distributions were represented for each of the 30 species in the 17% and 30% area-based solutions, respectively. The outcomes were more efficient when we prioritized for individual species, particularly brook trout, where 24% and 36% of its predicted distribution was represented in the 17% and 30% solutions, respectively. Future conservation planning should consider climate change, culturally significant species and areas, and the importance of First Nations as guardians and stewards of the land in northern Ontario.