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Distribution of Native U.S. Fishes by Watershed About the Data | Using the Clickable Map | Data Sources | Citation and Use | Changes to the Data About the Data
NatureServe has compiled detailed data on the current and historic distributions of the native freshwater fishes of the United States, excluding Alaska and Hawaii. We believe these data are a useful tool for aquatic research and analyses and for conservation planning. Presented here are lists of the native fish species of each small watershed (8-digit cataloging unit) as defined by the U.S. Geological Survey. (There are 2,064 such watersheds in the 48 states. To learn how these watersheds are defined, see the USGS's Science in Your Watershed website). Using the Clickable Map On the map below, users can search by zooming in to one of 16 sections of the country. From the selected sub-area on the map, click on a particular watershed to bring up a table listing all native freshwater fish species known to currently or historically occur in the watershed. Then click on the scientific name of any species to bring up the species' Comprehensive Report from NatureServe Explorer, our online searchable database on species and ecological communities. To search directly for a specific species, use the Search feature in NatureServe Explorer.
Data Sources These data derive in part from precise location data (element occurrences) compiled by state natural heritage programs for 307 vulnerable or imperiled U.S. fish species. The natural heritage-derived locational data were supplemented with information from the scientific literature and from species experts to compile the most complete distributional information possible for these species at the level of USGS 8-digit cataloging unit. Analyses of these data were first presented in the report
Rivers of Life: Critical
Watersheds for Protecting Freshwater Biodiversity (1998) and were
published in amended form in Precious
Heritage: The Status of Biodiversity in the United States (2000).
Subsequent funding from the Regina Bauer Frankenberg Foundation for Animal
Welfare and from The Nature Conservancy allowed us to expand the database.
The data were thus compiled over a period of several years (1997 to 2003). Citation and Use Datasets © NatureServe 2004. NatureServe grants to the public a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to download and use these data for non-commercial, educational purposes. All such uses should provide appropriate attribution. The datasets should be cited as follows: NatureServe. 2004. Downloadable animal datasets. NatureServe Central Databases. Available from: www.natureserve.org/getData/dataSets/watershedHucs/index.jsp ([access date]). Changes to the Data These data are dynamic with new records frequently being added and old records being revised as new information is received. As a result, the information on this website should not be considered a definitive statement on the presence or absence of freshwater fishes in any given watershed, nor should be used as a substitute for on-site surveys required for environmental assessments. In any dataset such as this there will be errors of omission
as well as errors of commission. We ask users of these data to let us
know about such errors so that the data can be improved over time for
the future benefit of all users. Comments can be submitted through the
Feedback link below or by email
to Larry Master, Chief Zoologist. Please cite the data source for any
comments regarding omissions or changes in status (e.g., current to historic-only). |
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