Stream Habitats and Aquatic Communities in an Agricultural Watershed: Changes Related to a Mandatory Riparian Buffer Law.

Riparian buffers along streams can intercept eroding soils, contaminants, and nutrients, improving stream habitats and increasing the health of aquatic communities. Instream and riparian habitats and fish and benthic invertebrate communities were surveyed in a Minnesota stream draining an agricultural watershed before and after implementation of a state-mandated buffer law passed in 2014 and aimed at protecting water quality. Intensive habitat assessments, electrofishing, and benthic invertebrate sampling were used at the same 13 sites in 2005 and 2018.

Identifying correlates of success and failure of native freshwater fish reintroductions.

Reintroduction of imperiled native freshwater fish is becoming an increasingly important conservation tool amidst persistent anthropogenic pressures and new threats related to climate change. We summarized trends in native fish reintroductions in the current literature, identified predictors of reintroduction outcome, and devised recommendations for managers attempting future native fish reintroductions. We constructed random forest classifications using data from 260 published case studies of native fish reintroductions to estimate the effectiveness of variables in predicting reintroduction outcome.