Scientist works to protect Montana’s stream ecosystems into the future

As the climate warms, freshwater ecosystems like rivers and wetlands have become the most endangered ecosystems on the planet, according to Charles van Rees, a post-doctoral conservation biologist working at Flathead Lake Biological Research Station in Yellow Bay.

Montana’s cold, pristine mountain streams are no exception. Lower spring flows, warmer water and more roads all create conditions that favor nonnative species, such as brook and rainbow trout, over native species such as bull trout and westslope cutthroat.

Van Rees and a team of scientists are helping ensure the area’s native trout hold out. The wildest waters are being helped by the techiest tech.

Once a non-native population is established, said van Rees, it is nearly impossible to remove them. The key is Early Detection Rapid Response (EDRR).

“If you can remove them the minute they arrive,” he said, “you can prevent their spread.”

But early detection means thousands of miles of streams must be monitored constantly, an expensive prospect for the agencies responsible, including National Park Service, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Forest Service, and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

“There’s no way any agency has enough money to do that,” said van Rees.

They need a way to prioritize where to monitor, especially as more and more streams may be affected.

Van Rees and his mentors Brian Hand and Gordon Luikart are developing predictive models that will help prioritize the most likely sites of invasion for monitoring. Two key high-tech tools are being put to use.

The first tool is Environmental DNA (eDNA). Scientists can now analyze stray DNA present in water or soil samples to find what species live in that area, rather than having to find the actual animals. With eDNA, they are mapping where native trout and non-native competitors live.

The other tool is satellites, which collect a nearly infinite amount of data about the earth’s surface conditions. With a grant from NASA, Charles and his team are creating computer models of conditions in the habitats of native and non-native trout. The satellites can detect habitat changes, such as warmer water or a change in seasonal runoff, that could pose a threat to native trout, giving a heads-up to agencies as to where best to focus their invasive species prevention efforts.

The models use predictions of conditions in the environment decades into the future to help anticipate where invasive species will most likely move into.

Van Rees’ interest in protecting freshwater biodiversity has a global reach. While on a Fulbright Scholarship in Spain last year, he attended international meetings in Berlin and Ghent, spearheading a policy paper with contributions from 30 international scientists. This work will inform two major new international policy strategies, for both the United Nations and the European Union.

The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity sets wildlife and biodiversity goals and strategies which the member nations work to meet. The original plan set goals to be met by 2020, and scarcely any of them were met.

“Things are really bad for biodiversity right now,” van Rees said. The new plan, “The Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework,” sets new goals with the intent to “protect biodiversity enough that the world’s ecosystems don’t crash and then stop supporting us.”

In turn, individual countries and groups set strategies to meet those international goals. Van Rees’ contribution, “Safeguarding Freshwater Life Beyond 2020: Recommendations for the new Global Biodiversity Framework from the European Experience” will help both the European Union and Convention develop their new plans.

Van Rees enthusiastically embraces “water diplomacy,” explaining that protecting wildlife ecosystems directly benefits humans in many ways. He is presenting a TEDx talk in Bozeman in April with a goal to “be the guy who goes between ecological science and people’s need for water, and prevent conflicts.”

“One of my major interests is in improving the way that ecological information is used in water management decision-making, ideally by providing opportunities for mutual gains between human and wildlife water users. Ecology is a powerful and essential tool for solving 21st century water resources conflicts.”