PisCES Fact Sheet


 PisCES:  Pis(cine) Community Estimation Software

 Overview
 PisCES predicts a fish community for any NHD-Plus stream reach in the conterminous United
 States.  PisCES utilizes HUC-based distributional information for over 1,000 native and non-
 native species obtained from NatureServe, the USGS, and the Peterson Field Guide to
 Freshwater Fishes of North America (Page and Burr 2011). In addition to using current
 geographic distributions, PisCES can alter potential communities to reflect information on
 species rarity, stream size preferences, and occurrence envelopes for water quality metrics (pH,
 conductivity, turbidity, dissolved oxygen) and stream characteristics (watershed area, mean
 width, depth, and slope).  PisCES can also create an abundance distribution for a fish
 community using an approach that associates abundance of a species to its maximum body
 size.

 Data
 Stream  segmentation was derived from the NHD-Plus dataset (http://www.horizon-
 systems.com/nhdplus/). The PisCES database of species-specific information was derived from
 Page and Burr (2011), the online NatureServe Explorer (http://explorer.natureserve.org/), and
 FishBase (http://www.fishbase.us/), including
    •   The mapped distribution of species based on collection records
    •   The stream size (mean width) where species are generally sampled
    •   The rarity of each species inside its range
    •   The maximum size each species attains
    •   Other species-specific habitat preferences

 Fish Distributions.  PisCES output is based on known geographic distributions offish species,
 obtained primarily from two sources:
    •   8-digit HUC-based species distributions from NatureServe (2010)
    •   8-digit HUC-based distributions of documented species introductions (both native and
       non-native fishes) from the USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Program.

 Larry Page, Florida Museum of Natural History, provided distributional polygons for species
 detailed in the Peterson Field Guide (Page and Burr 2011) for which the above two sources did
 not have distributions.

Stream Width. PisCES can  filter a predicted fish  assemblage using a species stream size
 preference under mean flow conditions.  This information from the Peterson Guide is
categorized using narrative terms, and the Guide provides a guideline for relating these terms
to a mean stream width metric:
                                Headwater/Spring: 0-1 m
                                     Creek: 1-5 m
                                  Small River: 5-25 m
                                Medium River: 25-50 m
                                  Large River: > 50 m

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                                                                         PisCES Fact Sheet
 References
 Boicourt, W., Gallegos, C., Harding Jr., L,, Houde, E., Mallonee, M., McClain, C., and Roman,
 M. 2004. Trophic indicators of ecosystem health in Chesapeake Bay.  2004 Progress Report.
 USEPA Grant R828677C002.
 http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer  abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.abstractDetail/abstract/612
 6/report/2004

 Caissie, D. 2006. River discharge and channel width relationships for New Brunswick rivers.
 Canadian Technical Report of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 2637. Canadian Department of
 Fisheries and Oceans, Moncton, NB.

 Duplisea, D. and Castonguay, M. 2006.  Comparison and utility of different size-based metrics
 of fish communities for detecting fishery impacts. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 63: 810-820.

 Faustini, J., Kaufmann, P., and Herlihy, A. 2009. Downstream variation in bankfull width of
 wadeable streams across the conterminous United States. Geomorphology 108: 292-311.

 Han, B., and Straskraba, M.  1998. Size dependence of biomass spectra and size intervals: the
 effects of size scales and size intervals. J. Theor. Biol. 191: 259-265.

 NatureServe. 2010. Digital Distribution Maps of the Freshwater Fishes in the Conterminous
 United States. Version 3.0. Arlington, VA. U.S.A.

 Page, L. and Burr, B. 2011.  Peterson Field Guide to Freshwater Fishes of North America North
 of Mexico. 2nd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston.

 Pope, J.,  and  Knights, B. 1982. Comparisons of length distributions of combined catches of all
 demersal fishes in surveys in the North Sea and Faroe Bank. Can. Spec. Publ. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 59:
 116-118.

 Sheldon, R., Prakash, A., and Sutcliffe, W. 1972. The size distribution of particles in the ocean.
 Limnol. Oceanogr. 18: 719-733.

Stranko, S., Hurd, M., and Klauda, R. 2005. Applying a large statewide  database to the
assessment, stressor diagnosis, and  restoration of stream fish communities.  Environmental
 Monitoring and Assessment. 108: 99-121.

 USEPA Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds.  2013. National Rivers and Streams
Assessment 2008-2009. USEPA/841/D-13/001, Washington, DC.

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