Identifying a suite of surrogate freshwaterscape fish species: a case study of conservation prioritization in Ontario's Far North, Canada
2015
McDermid, Jenni | Browne, David | Chetkiewicz, Cheryl‐Lesley | Chu, Cindy
Freshwater ecosystems are among the most threatened ecosystems on the planet, yet freshwater fish species are frequently overlooked in conservation planning initiatives. Ontario's Far North (OFN) in Canada is at present one of the largest relatively intact landscapes in North America with 11% of the total area covered by freshwater ecosystems, not including wetlands. Resource development is being planned for OFN but due to the paucity of data on fish species and the freshwater ecosystems they inhabit, the freshwaterscape is largely being overlooked. Given the importance of freshwater resources in OFN, existing information on fish species in OFN was compiled and assessed using the Landscape Species Approach (LSA) on this freshwaterscape. The LSA is a species‐based conservation planning tool developed for terrestrial conservation that is constructed around the identification of focal species for a given landscape. An analysis of 14 large‐bodied candidate freshwater species, including their area requirements, habitat use, ecological function, socio‐economic function and vulnerability to threats was used to identify three freshwaterscape species: lake sturgeon, lake trout, and walleye. The identification of these species and their ecological requirements suggests a starting place for research, management, and conservation of freshwater resources in OFN before large‐scale landscape changes.
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