Effects of temporal hydrologic shifts on the population biology of an endangered freshwater fish in a dryland river ecosystem

Species occupying dryland river ecosystems often experience “boom-and-bust” demographic cycles that coincide with shifts in habitat availability. Knowing whether declines are within natural thresholds versus those caused by acute human disturbance is critical for managing protected species. We investigated temporal shifts in abundance and habitat use of an endangered population of the threespine stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus in southern California, where a Mediterranean climate leads to ephemeral habitat in one of the regions' least hydrologically modified rivers, the Santa Clara River. We conducted population surveys over a period of below-average rainfall in the upper watershed in Soledad Canyon, with predefined reaches surveyed multiple times per year to capture different hydrologic conditions. Abundances were stable across years but varied significantly depending on location, with some reaches remaining dry and others drying seasonally to varying degrees. Occupancy models showed that the presence of stable perennial reaches, drying regime, and other site-specific factors were important predictors of habitat use, and that certain reaches may be key to ensuring source-sink dynamics as flow dissipates over the dry season. Low occupancy in two sections was driven by different predominant mechanisms, one by diel cycles of evapotranspiration and the other by cattails (Typha spp.), with both having greater effects during the hotter, drier parts of the year. As dryland river ecosystems are vulnerable to the effects of anthropogenic-induced climate change, this study demonstrates how temporal monitoring can delimit dry-state benchmarks for improving management interventions (i.e., translocation and habitat restoration) for protected species under conditions that are predicted to worsen in the coming years.