The Utility of Environmental DNA and Species Distribution Models in Assessing the Habitat Requirements of Twelve Fish Species in Alaskan North Slope Rivers
Subsistence fishing is a vital component of Alaska’s North Slope borough economy and culture that is being threatened by human disturbance. These threats mean the fish must be protected, but the size of the region makes conservation planning difficult. Fortunately, advances in species distribution m...
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ftutahsudc:oai:digitalcommons.usu.edu:etd-8843 2023-06-11T04:15:12+02:00 The Utility of Environmental DNA and Species Distribution Models in Assessing the Habitat Requirements of Twelve Fish Species in Alaskan North Slope Rivers Eddings, James B. 2020-05-01T07:00:00Z application/pdf https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/7708 https://doi.org/10.26076/8e79-5b12 https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/context/etd/article/8843/viewcontent/WATSetd2020May_Eddings_James.pdf unknown DigitalCommons@USU https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/7708 doi:10.26076/8e79-5b12 https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/context/etd/article/8843/viewcontent/WATSetd2020May_Eddings_James.pdf Copyright for this work is held by the author. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information contact digitalcommons@usu.edu. All Graduate Theses and Dissertations Modeling distributions environmental DNA eDNA mapping assessment SDM fish Alaska Ecology and Evolutionary Biology text 2020 ftutahsudc https://doi.org/10.26076/8e79-5b12 2023-05-11T17:33:08Z Subsistence fishing is a vital component of Alaska’s North Slope borough economy and culture that is being threatened by human disturbance. These threats mean the fish must be protected, but the size of the region makes conservation planning difficult. Fortunately, advances in species distribution models (SDMs), environmental DNA (eDNA), and remote sensing technologies provide potential to better understand species’ needs and guide management. The objectives of my study were to: (1) map the current habitat suitability for twelve fish species, occurring in Alaska’s North Slope, (2) determine if SDMs based on eDNA data performed similarly to, or improved, models based on traditional sampling data, and (3) predict how species distributions will shift in the future in response to climate change. I was able to produce robust models for 8 of 12 species that relate environmental characteristics to a species’ presence or absence and identify stream reaches where species are likely to occur. Unfortunately, the use of eDNA data did not produce useful models in Northern Alaskan rivers. However, I was able to generate predictions of species distributions into the future that should help inform management for years to come. Text north slope Alaska Utah State University: DigitalCommons@USU |
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Utah State University: DigitalCommons@USU |
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ftutahsudc |
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unknown |
topic |
Modeling distributions environmental DNA eDNA mapping assessment SDM fish Alaska Ecology and Evolutionary Biology |
spellingShingle |
Modeling distributions environmental DNA eDNA mapping assessment SDM fish Alaska Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Eddings, James B. The Utility of Environmental DNA and Species Distribution Models in Assessing the Habitat Requirements of Twelve Fish Species in Alaskan North Slope Rivers |
topic_facet |
Modeling distributions environmental DNA eDNA mapping assessment SDM fish Alaska Ecology and Evolutionary Biology |
description |
Subsistence fishing is a vital component of Alaska’s North Slope borough economy and culture that is being threatened by human disturbance. These threats mean the fish must be protected, but the size of the region makes conservation planning difficult. Fortunately, advances in species distribution models (SDMs), environmental DNA (eDNA), and remote sensing technologies provide potential to better understand species’ needs and guide management. The objectives of my study were to: (1) map the current habitat suitability for twelve fish species, occurring in Alaska’s North Slope, (2) determine if SDMs based on eDNA data performed similarly to, or improved, models based on traditional sampling data, and (3) predict how species distributions will shift in the future in response to climate change. I was able to produce robust models for 8 of 12 species that relate environmental characteristics to a species’ presence or absence and identify stream reaches where species are likely to occur. Unfortunately, the use of eDNA data did not produce useful models in Northern Alaskan rivers. However, I was able to generate predictions of species distributions into the future that should help inform management for years to come. |
format |
Text |
author |
Eddings, James B. |
author_facet |
Eddings, James B. |
author_sort |
Eddings, James B. |
title |
The Utility of Environmental DNA and Species Distribution Models in Assessing the Habitat Requirements of Twelve Fish Species in Alaskan North Slope Rivers |
title_short |
The Utility of Environmental DNA and Species Distribution Models in Assessing the Habitat Requirements of Twelve Fish Species in Alaskan North Slope Rivers |
title_full |
The Utility of Environmental DNA and Species Distribution Models in Assessing the Habitat Requirements of Twelve Fish Species in Alaskan North Slope Rivers |
title_fullStr |
The Utility of Environmental DNA and Species Distribution Models in Assessing the Habitat Requirements of Twelve Fish Species in Alaskan North Slope Rivers |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Utility of Environmental DNA and Species Distribution Models in Assessing the Habitat Requirements of Twelve Fish Species in Alaskan North Slope Rivers |
title_sort |
utility of environmental dna and species distribution models in assessing the habitat requirements of twelve fish species in alaskan north slope rivers |
publisher |
DigitalCommons@USU |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/7708 https://doi.org/10.26076/8e79-5b12 https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/context/etd/article/8843/viewcontent/WATSetd2020May_Eddings_James.pdf |
genre |
north slope Alaska |
genre_facet |
north slope Alaska |
op_source |
All Graduate Theses and Dissertations |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/7708 doi:10.26076/8e79-5b12 https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/context/etd/article/8843/viewcontent/WATSetd2020May_Eddings_James.pdf |
op_rights |
Copyright for this work is held by the author. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information contact digitalcommons@usu.edu. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.26076/8e79-5b12 |
_version_ |
1768371832988106752 |