The "Fathead Minnow Factory": Exploring How a Changing Climate Has Influenced Fish and Salamander Communities in the Prairie Pothole Region

Abstract

Global climate change has been linked to changing many ecosystem processes. Early literature on climate change and biological systems predominately focused on individual species responses to temperature gradients. However, altered precipitation patterns can impact the ionic concentrations of aquatic habitats and thus affect the structure of entire communities. Understanding indirect effects of climate change, will be important to predict how whole systems have and will continue to change. Prairie pothole wetlands are well suited to study these processes. Prairie pothole wetlands are typically closed systems with natural hydrological fluctuations that have molded plant and wildlife communities adapted to these changing environments. However, a 20-year wet climate cycle has increased the permanency of many waterbodies facilitating colonization of various fish species, including the fathead minnow (Pimphales promelas). Thus, it is important to understand the environmental and biological aspects of prairie pothole wetlands facilitate fish presence under current and projected climate cycles.