Fishery and aquatic scientists often assess habitats to understand the distribution, status, stressors, andrelative abundance of aquatic resources. Due to the spatial nature of aquatic habitats and the increasingscope of management concerns, using traditional analytical methods for assessment is often difficult.However, advancements in the geographic information systems (GIS) field and related technologies haveenabled scientists and managers to more effectively collate, archive, display, analyze, and model spatial andtemporal data. For example, spatially explicit habitat assessment models allow for a more robustinterpretation of many terrestrial and aquatic datasets, including physical and biological monitoring data,habitat diversity, watershed characteristics, and socioeconomic parameters.For this project, Downstream Strategies (DS) was contracted by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service(USFWS) to create a spatially explicit data analysis and modeling system for assessing fish habitat conditionacross the northern Great Plains based on a range of metrics. The data and tools developed as part of theproject will be applicable to watersheds, streams, rivers, and lakes within the boundaries of the USFWS’sGreat Plains Fish Habitat Partnership (FHP) and scalable to the national level.Generally, the models, analyses, and data produced as a result of this project are intended to enable aunique, broad, and spatially explicit understanding of the links between natural habitat conditions, humaninfluences on aquatic habitats, and aquatic health. Specifically, the outcomes will be utilized to conduct fishhabitat condition assessments based on a range of stakeholder-specified metrics and modeling endpointsthat will help determine the natural drivers of aquatic conditions as well as the major stressors at variousspatial scales in specific FHP regions. Additionally, a geospatial decision support tool will be developed to giveusers the ability to understand habitat conditions and stressors based on the status and severity of threats atspecified locations. The ultimate goal is to improve understanding of how local and regional processesinfluence stream conditions in the region and to provide FHPs with additional knowledge, data, and tools tohelp prioritize and drive conservation action in the northern Great Plains.
