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

Texas Project


Variation and plasticity and their interaction with urbanization in Guadalupe bass populations on and off the Edwards Plateau

September 2013 - December 2016


Personnel

Participating Agencies

  • Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Jessica Pease prepares museum specimens of Guadalupe Bass <i>Micropterus treculii</i>to be photographed for later morphometric analysis.

Guadalupe bass Micropterus treculii is a native black bass species endemic to Texas. It is found primarily in the Edwards Plateau ecoregion, but also extends downstream into the Blackland Prairie and Coastal Plains ecoregions in the lower Colorado River. Guadalupe bass has declined across much of its range as a result of introgressive hybridization with introduced smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu and habitat degradation. As such, it has been identified as a species of greatest conservation need by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. While Guadalupe bass are found across much of the Edwards Plateau, a population also occurs in the lower Colorado River and has been documented as far downstream as Columbus, Texas. In the reach from Lady Bird Lake in Austin, Texas to the most downstream occurrence of Guadalupe bass, there is a gradient in urbanization around the Colorado River. The main stem Colorado River and its tributaries experience increasing urbanization as they flow into Austin, which then declines as the river progresses downstream. Urbanized streams in the Austin area have experienced changes in geomorphology and hydrology including changes in slope and increases in peak flood magnitudes. However, how these changes and other urbanization effects such as eutrophication have affected stream fishes, and Guadalupe bass in particular, is not known and represents a significant information gap in the understanding of the threats to Guadalupe bass. Additionally, the population in the lower Colorado River occurs in a habitat that is greatly different from what is considered “typical” Guadalupe bass habitat. It is unknown how this population differs in its age and size structure, habitat requirements, and recruitment dynamics from upstream populations that occur in more “typical” habitat.

Research Publications Publication Date
Pease JE, TB Grabowski, & AA Pease. 2017. Variation and plasticity and their interaction with urbanization in Guadalupe Bass populations on and off the Edwards Plateau. U.S. Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Cooperator Science Series FWS/CSS-125-2017, Washington, D.C. | Abstract | Download August 2017
Pease JE, TB Grabowski, AP Pease, & PT Bean. 2018. Changing environmental gradients over forty years alter ecomorphological variation in Guadalupe Bass Micropterus treculii throughout a river basin. Ecology and Evolution 8:8508-8522. doi: 10.1002/ece3.4349. | Abstract | Publisher Website July 2018
Presentations Presentation Date
Pease J, TB Grabowski, A Pease, & PT Bean. Population responses of Guadalupe Bass Micropterus treculii to potential hydrologic impacts of urbanization within the Colorado River Basin, central Texas. Sixth Annual Symposium on GIS/Spatial Analyses in Fishery and Aquatic Sciences. Tampa, FL. 25-29 August 2014. August 2014
Pease J, TB Grabowski, A Pease, & PT Bean. Potential hydrologic impacts of urbanization on Guadalupe Bass populations within the Colorado River Basin. Joint Meeting of the Texas and Oklahoma Chapters of the American Fisheries Society. Pottsborro, Texas. 13-15 February 2014. February 2014
Pease JE, TB Grabowski, A Pease, & PT Bean. Potential morphometric response of Guadalupe Bass populations to hydrologic alteration and urbanization within the Colorado River Basin, central Texas. 2015 Annual Meeting of the Texas Chapter of the American Fisheries Society. 15-17 January 2015. January 2015
Pease JE, TB Grabowski, A Pease, & PT Bean. Potential morphometric response of Guadalupe Bass populations to hydrologic alteration and urbanization within the Colorado River Basin, central Texas. Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society Spring Meeting 2015. Savannah, GA. 29 January-01 February 2015. January 2015
Pease JE, TB Grabowski, A Pease, & PT Bean. Movement patterns and habitat associations of Guadalupe Bass populations in the lower Colorado River. 2016 Annual Meeting of the Texas Chapter of the American Fisheries Society. Kerrville, Texas. 21-23 January 2016. January 2016
Pease JE, TB Grabowski, A Pease, & PT Bean. Movements and habitat use of Guadalupe Bass using radio telemetry in the lower Colorado River, Texas. 146th Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society. Kansas City, KS. 22-25 August 2016. August 2016
Perkin JS, JE Pease, & TB Grabowski. Loiterers, leavers, and leptokurtosis: Synthesizing movement ecology of Guadalupe Bass (Micropterus treculii). 2018 Annual Meeting of the Texas Chapter of the American Fisheries Society. College Station, Texas. 25-26 January 2018. January 2018
Theses and Dissertations Publication Date
Pease JE. 2018. Variation and plasticity and their interaction with urbanization in Guadalupe Bass populations on and off the Edwards Plateau. Ph.D. dissertation. Texas Tech University, Lubbcok, Texas. August 2018