Kansas Project: A strategic process for fisheries management and aquatic conservation. PI: M. E. Mather, 2018-2026.

Kansas Project

A strategic process for fisheries management and aquatic conservation. PI: M. E. Mather, 2018-2026.

January 2018 - December 2026

Personnel

Martha Mather, Principal Investigator

Participating Agencies

Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism

A Strategic process for fisheries management and aquatic conservation. PI: M. E. Mather, 2019-2022.

I am dedicated to the Unit mission elements of (a) providing excellent training for graduate students that will help them succeed in the rigorous science-based conservation required for the changing world, and (b) delivering proactive, effective research that identifies, then implements, solutions to the problems facing our management colleagues. Over my > 25 years with the Cooperative Research Unit Program, I have gained specific insights into what state and federal managers within our cooperating agencies need to be effective in science-based, data-driven conservation and management. Throughout my career, I have also gained substantial insights into the science, valued by universities, needed to provide lasting and effective decision support. Over the last three years (2018-2020), I have used my experience and commitment to develop then deliver insights that can help Unit cooperators address common problems (e.g., gear selection, harvest regulation evaluations, strategic planning, setting science-based goals for management and conservation, methodology for the creation of problem-related question networks that guide data analysis/collection, data fusion, and identifying metrics for success). These contributions promise to substantially improve the long-term implementation of the mission of our state, federal, and university cooperators.

Research Publications

Research Publications	Publication Date
Mather, M. E., and J. M Dettmers. Adaptive problem maps (APM): connecting data dots to build increasingly informed and defensible environmental conservation decisions. Journal of Environmental Management 312 (2022) 114826 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.114826	March 2022
Hitchman, Sean, M., Martha E. Mather, Joseph M. Smith. 2021. Does type, quantity, and location of habitat matter for fish diversity in a Great Plains riverscape? Fisheries. https://afspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/fsh.10634	August 2021
Hitchman, S.M, M. E. Mather, J. Smith, and J. Fencl. 2018. Identifying keystone habitats with a mosaic approach can improve biodiversity conservation in disturbed ecosystems. Global Change Biology 2017;1–14. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.13846; http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.13846/epdf	July 2017
Hitchman, S. M., M. E. Mather, J. M. Smith, J. S. Fencl. 2018. Habitat mosaics and path analysis can improve biological conservation of aquatic biodiversity in ecosystems with low-head dams. Science of the Total Environment 619–620: 221–231 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.10.272; http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004896971732990X	April 2018
Fencl, J., M. Mather, J. Smith, and S. Hitchman. 2017. The blind men and the elephant examine biodiversity at low-head dams: are we all dealing with the same dam reality? Ecosphere 8 (1): 1-17; DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.1973; http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.1973/full	November 2017
Fencl, J. S., M. E. Mather, K. Costigan, and M. D, Daniels. 2015. How Big of an Effect Do Small Dams Have?; Using Geomorphological Footprints to Quantify Spatial Impact of Low-Head Dams and Identify Patterns of Across-Dam Variation PLoS ONE 10(11): e0141210. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0141210 \| Abstract	November 2015	Abstract Longitudinal connectivity is a fundamental feature of streams and rivers that can be broken by dams. Over 2,000,000 low-head dams (<6 m high) fragment United States streams and rivers and can alter biodiversity. Despite potential adverse impacts of this ubiquitous disturbance, the spatial impact of low-head dams is largely unknown. Progress for research and conservation is impaired by not knowing how low-head dams affect natural systems or the magnitude of their impact. Based on the geomorphic literature, we refined a methodology that allowed us to quantify the spatial impact of low-head dam impacts (i.e., dam footprint), assess variation in dam footprints across individual low-head dams within a single watershed, and identify select aspects of the ecological context of this variation. We quantified width, depth, and substrate profiles upstream and downstream of six low-head dams within the Upper Neosho River subdrainage, Kansas. Based on changes in substrate size, dam footprints averaged 6.7 km upstream (range 2.2 – 13.7), 1.2 km downstream (range 0.2 to 1.6), and 7.9 km total (3-15.3) footprint per dam. Together, these alterations disturb 47.3 km of the Upper Neosho River subdrainage. Despite differences in size, location, and original function, the geomorphic footprints of the six low-head dams in the upper Neosho drainage were relatively similar. The number of upstream dams and proximity to upstream dams, but not dam height, affected the spatial extent of dam footprints. In summary, ubiquitous low-head dams can individually and cumulatively alter lotic ecosystems. Both characteristics of individual dams and the ecological context of neighboring dams affect low-head dam impacts within and across watersheds. For these reasons, low-head dams require a different approach for research and management than the individualistic approach that has been applied to larger dams.
Chestnut- Faull, K. C., M. Mather, Q. Phelps, D. Shoup. 2022. A review of empirical evidence related to the effectiveness of harvest regulation evaluations: a systematic, standardized collaborative approach to data collection. Fisheries. https://doi.org/10.1002/fsh.10808 \| Abstract	August 2022	<b>Abstract</b><br>Harvest regulations are important tools that fisheries professionals use to impact fish abundance, alter population size structure, and improve fishing opportunities.<b> </b>Fisheries professionals often assume that specialized harvest regulations will have specific effects on target fish populations, but these predictions are not always realized because theory and practice don’t always match.<b> </b>To identify trends that can improve the future success of harvest regulations, we reviewed a representative sample of harvest regulation evaluations for inland sportfish (i.e., 62 evaluations from 41 studies). Our review revealed gaps related to quantitative predictions, statistical design, evaluation duration, researcher-manager collaboration, and data standardization. We encourage fisheries professionals to join together to systematically evaluate every change in harvest regulations. Shared and thoughtful data collection designs and protocol standardizations, which include the recommendations made in this call-to-action, can transform every regulation application into an empirical evaluation that provides generality across locations and time periods with similar effort and cost.

Presentations

Presentations	Presentation Date
Mather, Martha E. 2020. Combining Freakonomics with Data Fusion to Advance Big Data Approaches for Fisheries and Aquatic Conservation Problem Solving. 150th Annual Meeting of American Fisheries Society. September 14- 2 5 2020. Columbus, Ohio. Invited Presentation for Symposium Entitled “Merging Data Science and Fisheries and Aquatic Science to Solve Big Problems.” https://www.dropbox.com/s/snz1n55v3jjvq5o/Mather%20-%20Fish%20Freak%20%2843598%29%2017%20min.mp4?dl=0	September 2020
Mather, M. E., Q. Phelps. D. Shoup, K. Chestnut-Faull, C. Aymami. Syntheses are an underused opportunity to advance fisheries research and management: a framework to move fisheries “synthesis science” forward. 83rd Midwest Fish & Wildlife Conference, Overland Park, Kansas (February 12-15, 2023).	February 2023
Mather, M. E. 2022. Using a holistic approach to connect research and management. 152nd American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting, Spokane, WA. August 21-25, 2022	August 2022
Mather, M. E. 2021. We have been working on this forever: why is “diversity and inclusion” so hard? Invited presentation for a symposium entitled “Diversity and inclusion: a strategy to implement change for 2021 and beyond.” 151^st Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society, November 6-10, 2021, Baltimore, MD.	November 2021

Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Kansas Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Kansas Project

A strategic process for fisheries management and aquatic conservation. PI: M. E. Mather, 2018-2026.

January 2018 - December 2026

Personnel

Participating Agencies

Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Kansas
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources