James E. Whitney

Pittsburg State University · Biology

Water pollution imperils the Neosho madtom (Noturus placidus), which is threatened federally and in Kansas. Within Kansas, madtom densities were historically lower in the Spring River compared to the Cottonwood and Neosho Rivers, especially within the Spring River below tributary inputs that delivered cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc pollution from...

The increasing frequency of large, high-severity wildfires and resulting impacts on stream ecosystems necessitates the assessment of fish population resistance and resilience to these disturbances. Our objective was to quantify how density and growth of age-0, subadult, and adult Sonora suckers (Catostomus insignis) were influenced by two wildfires...

The tricolored bat (Perimyotis subflavus) once commonly occurred throughout the eastern and central United States, but is now experiencing range-wide population declines primarily due to white-nose syndrome and forest fragmentation. Conservation efforts for this species require more information regarding summer maternity roost characteristics, espe...

Patterns of genetic diversity and effective size should be predicted by life history traits (intrinsic), landscape properties (extrinsic), and population dynamics. Theoretical models portray complicated relationships among population subdivision, rates of extirpation and recolonization, and metapopulation genetic effective size (metaNe), but make s...

High-severity wildfires are becoming increasingly common across the American Southwest, and knowledge of how these fires affect native organisms is essential for their conservation. We evaluated changes in fish densities and habitat over 7 and 23 years in 2 tributaries of the Gila River, New Mexico, that experienced large wildfires. The Miller Fire...

Observing spatial and temporal variation in aquatic communities provides insight into factors driving community structure. These observations are particularly important as ecosystems are being challenged by new extremes associated with a changing climate. However, since the timing of disturbances is unpredictable, capturing their effects is difficu...

Many bat populations have plummeted in North America since the introduction of white-nose syndrome (WNS) in 2006, presenting challenges in researching population health and habitat use of affected species. Traditional survey techniques such as mist-netting and radio-telemetry have become increasingly time-consuming post-WNS due to the rarity of WNS...

The distribution of Freckled Madtom (Noturus nocturnus) in Kansas includes the Lower Arkansas and Walnut River drainages of southcentral Kansas and the Little Osage, Marais des Cygnes, Neosho, and Verdigris River drainages of eastern Kansas. Freckled Madtom have not been previously reported from the Spring River subbasin in southeastern Kansas, alt...

The Blackspotted Topminnow (Fundulus olivaceus) is not native to the Spring River subbasin (SRS) of Kansas, where it was first collected from Shoal Creek in the early 2000s. To date, little is known concerning the contemporary prevalence of Blackspotted Topminnow in the SRS of KS, or how prevalence of the closely related Blackstripe Topminnow (Fund...

Fifteen years have passed since the introduction of white-nose syndrome (WNS) in North America. The decline of several WNS-susceptible bat populations led to the development of bat educational efforts to increase public support for bat conservation. However, few studies reviewed the efficacy of these efforts concerning the public’s understanding an...

Fishes in the genus Nocomis function as keystone engineers via their mound-building spawning behavior. Furthermore, mound construction grants some Nocomis spp. resistance to excess sedimentation, as it concentrates gravel in an otherwise silty substrate. However, it is unclear whether silt-resistance is a general trait of Nocomis spp. or is instead...

The Hornyhead Chub (Nocomis biguttatus) and Redspot Chub (Nocomis asper) are threatened species in Kansas, with population declines attributed largely to agriculture and impoundments. Both species are ecosystem engineers via their reproductive behavior, as they create and guard spawning mounds which other fishes use for spawning habitat. As such, d...

• Disturbance regimes of arid regions throughout the world are changing along with global warming. Severity of drought associated with decreased stream discharge and increased frequency and intensity of wildfires are increasing in many of these systems. Combined, these factors can have potentially devastating effects on stream fish communities. • T...

Pollution is a threat to lotic fishes that enter streams via point source (PS) and nonpoint source (NPS) pathways. The Clean Water Act (CWA) of 1972 and the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) of 1977 reduced PS pollution in the United States, but little information is available concerning the response of fish communities to this leg...

Intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams (IRES) are temporally and spatially dynamic ecosystems, experiencing alternating wet and dry phases and supporting both aquatic and terrestrial habitats. For aquatic species to persist in these variable habitats, they must be resistant or resilient to disturbances such as flow cessation and drying. Resistan...

Movement is necessary for re-colonization of habitats following disturbance, but methods to estimate dispersal of small-bodied fishes are limited. We evaluated the efficacy of otolith microchemistry in identifying habitat origin of longfin dace Agosia chrysogaster in the Gila River, NM, USA. Additionally, we used this method to determine the source...

Climate change is poised to alter the distributional limits, center, and size of many species. Traits may influence different aspects of range shifts, with trophic generality facilitating shifts at the leading edge, and greater thermal tolerance limiting contractions at the trailing edge. The generality of relationships between traits and range shi...

Dendritic ecological network (DEN) architecture can be a strong predictor of spatial genetic patterns in theoretical and simulation studies. Yet, interspecific differences in dispersal capabilities and distribution within the network may equally affect species’ genetic structuring. We characterized patterns of genetic variation from up to ten micro...

Environmental filtering and competitive exclusion are hypotheses frequently invoked in explaining species' environmental niches (i.e., geographic distributions). A key assumption in both hypotheses is that the functional niche (i.e., species traits) governs the environmental niche, but few studies have rigorously evaluated this assumption. Furtherm...

Intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams (IRES) are temporally and spatially dynamic, experiencing alternating wet and dry phases and supporting both aquatic and terrestrial habitats – Persistence in these highly variable habitats requires aquatic taxa to be resistant or resilient to disturbances such as drying – Resistance mechanisms include tole...

Natural resource decision makers are challenged to adapt management to a changing climate while balancing short-term management goals with long-term changes in aquatic systems. Adaptation will require developing resilient ecosystems and resilient management systems. Decision makers already have tools to develop or ensure resilient aquatic systems a...

Global climate change is altering freshwater ecosystems and affecting fish populations and communities. Underpinning changes in fish distribution and assemblage-level responses to climate change are individual-level physiological constraints. In this review, we synthesize the mechanistic effects of climate change on neuroendocrine, cardiorespirator...

Climate is a critical driver of many fish populations, assemblages, and aquatic communities. However, direct observational studies of climate change impacts on North American inland fishes are rare. In this synthesis, we (1) summarize climate trends that may influence North American inland fish populations and assemblages, (2) compile 31 peer-revie...

Fisheries and human dimensions literature suggests that climate change influences inland recreational fishers in North America through three major pathways. The most widely recognized pathway suggests that climate change impacts habitat and fish populations (e.g., water temperature impacting fish survival) and cascades to impact fishers. Climate ch...

Predation by nonnative fish is often cited as a leading cause of declining native fish populations, but quantifying these negative interactions is difficult. Bioenergetics modeling provides a tool to estimate consumptive demand of nonnative species and to identify those that pose the greatest threats to native biota. We used bioenergetics modeling...

Freshwater fish are one of the most diverse groups of vertebrates, but are also amongst the most threatened. With contributions from leaders in the field, this is the first assessment of the global state of freshwater fish diversity, synthesising the opportunities, challenges and barriers facing the conservation of freshwater fish biodiversity. The...

The objectives of our research were to examine commonness–rarity patterns in fish communities in networks of intermittent streams. We quantified species abundance distributions and the importance of nestedness and turnover to community dissimilarity and then related commonness to colonisation, extinction and physiological tolerance. Patterns and re...

Climate change and fire suppression have altered fire regimes globally, leading to larger, more frequent, and more severe wildfires. Responses of coldwater stream biota to single wildfires are well studied, but measured responses to consecutive wildfires in warmwater systems that often include mixed assemblages of native and nonnative taxa are lack...

Conservation genetic studies are challenged by the fact that populations of many imperiled species have experienced declines and fragmentation to the degree they no longer exhibit natural, self-sustaining metapopulation processes; characteristics of great importance to managers charged with their protection. Genetic patterns of species from minimal...

Ash flows and flooding associated with wildfires represent important but understudied sources of disturbance for fish populations. Knowledge concerning these disturbances is especially limited for larger streams where warm water species dominate. Fire-related disturbances have been hypothesised to differentially affect native and non-native fishes,...

To determine if the strategy of spawning in saucer-like depressions is obligate or facultative for longfin dace (Agosia chrysogaster), we collected adults from four sites in the upper Gila River (southwestern New Mexico), stocked them in separate outdoor stream-mesocosms lined with cobble substrate, and made daily observations for the presence of s...

Temperature is an important factor affecting the distribution of freshwater fishes. The longfin dace (Agosia chrysogaster) is endemic to the Gila River basin of the southwestern USA and northern Mexico and occupies a range of thermal environments from cool mountain tributaries to warm desert rivers but information about its thermal biology is limit...

The diets of stoneflies (Perlodidae) and hellgrammites (Corydalidae) from the Gila River, New Mexico, were quantified and compared to diets of three native fishes that also occupy riffle habitats along with stoneflies and hellgrammites: speckled dace (Rhinichthys osculus); longfin dace (Agosia chrysogaster); desert sucker (Catostomus clarkii). The...

Native fish faunas throughout the American Southwest have declined dramatically in the past century, mainly a consequence of habitat alteration and alien species introductions. We initiated this 6-year study to evaluate the efficacy of mechanical removal of nonnative predaceous rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss, brown trout Salmo trutta, yellow bul...

Native fish persistence is threatened by the establishment and spread of nonnatives. Identifying environmental and biotic factors associated with the success of co-occurring native fishes and nonnative taxa is central to identifying mechanisms responsible for native declines and nonnative expansion. We related physicochemical variables, food resour...

Describing fish habitat associations and their relevance to conservation remains a central challenge in stream fish ecology. Unfortunately, there are limited opportunities to investigate these associations in unaltered systems and identify critical habitats used by native fishes. Investigation of fish habitat associations in tallgrass prairie is es...

Nonnative species represent a major threat to the continued persistence of native fishes globally, especially in the Colorado River Basin of western North America, where there are now more nonnative than native fishes. In the upper Gila River, a tributary of the Colorado, numerous nonnative fishes have established populations, and predation by thes...