Aquatic ecologist says dams are boxing in 1xbet online games login — indicators of environmental health — causing them to disappear from Kansas
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
The peppered chub is one of the small species of 1xbet online games login disappearing from Kansas rivers. | Download the following photo.
MANHATTAN — Call them the canary in the coal mine for water quality; small 1xbet online games login species are being extirpated from Kansas rivers, according to Kansas State University ecologists.
Keith 1xbet online games login , professor in the Division of 1xbet on; Josh Perkin, 2012 1xbet online games login State University doctoral graduate; and several co-authors have published "Fragmentation and dewatering transform Great Plains stream 1xbet online games login communities" in the journal Ecological Monographs.
The article documents a reduction in water flow in Great Plains streams and rivers because of drought, damming and groundwater withdrawals. This is causing a decrease in aquatic diversity in 1xbet online games login from stream fragmentation — or stretches of disconnected streams.
"1xbet online games login are an indication of the health of the environment," Gido said. "A while back there was a sewage leak in the Arkansas River and it was the dead 1xbet online games login that helped identify the problem. Children play and swim in that water, so it's important that we have a good understanding of water quality."
Several species of 1xbet online games login — including the peppered chub and the plains minnow — were found to be severely declining in the Great Plains during the ecologists' field research, which compared historic records to 110 sampling sites in Kansas between 2011-2013. Both 1xbet online games login species swim downstream during droughts and return during normal water flow, but the construction of dams, or stream fragmentation, prevents 1xbet online games login from returning upstream.
"The Great Plains region is a harsh environment and drought has always been a problem. Historically, 1xbet online games login were able to recover from drought by moving," Gido said. "They could swim downstream and when the drought was over, they could swim back. Now, there are dams on the rivers and the 1xbet online games login are not able to recover."
Streams in the Great Plains region have more than 19,000 man-made barriers. Gido estimates that on average, stretches of streams in the Great Plains are about six miles long. In surveying Kansas' streams and rivers, the researchers discovered numerous small dams that do not allow enough habitat for the 1xbet online games login to complete their reproductive cycles. Moreover, the 1xbet online games login are unable to migrate in search of suitable habitat.
"Groundwater extraction exasperates the drought, and the damming of the rivers inhibits the 1xbet online games login from being able to recover from those conditions," Gido said. "This is unfortunate, but there are some things we can do to help."
Gido suggested a renewed focus to conserve water, reduce dams and make 1xbet online games login passageways like the one on the Arkansas River under Lincoln Street in Wichita. During the planning for the reconstruction of the Lincoln Street Bridge and the dam over the river, the city worked with wildlife agencies to build a passage that would allow 1xbet online games login as well as canoes and kayaks to navigate through the structure.
Similar structures could be constructed on the Kansas River to help 1xbet online games login migrate.
"The plains minnow is still found in the Missouri River and could recolonize the Kansas River — where they used to be the most abundance species — if there was a 1xbet online games login passage through some of the dams."
In addition to Gido and Perkin, co-authors on the article include Arthur Cooper, Michigan State University's fisheries and wildlife department; Thomas Turner and Megan Osborne, both 1xbet online games login the University of New Mexico's biology department and Museum of Southwestern Biology; Eric Johnson, Westar Energy biology and conservation programs; and Kevin Mayes, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
