Texas A&M AgriLife Research studies show shiner and minnow populations could provide early signs of water depletion, drought, and other environmental changes.
Shiners in the streams could serve as canaries in a coal mine for tracking water availability and planning for future droughts, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientist. Joshuah Perkin, fish ecologist in the Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University, has been focusing on how small fish species react to disruptions to water flow in creeks, streams and rivers.
Perkin said these fishes’ sensitivity to change and their populations’ success or failure in streams are good indicators of how groundwater depletion or drought are impacting freshwater ecosystems. The rise and fall of these fish populations are also a good prognosticator for how these changes could impact humans.
Small fish like shiners and minnows could represent an important early warning signal for policy makers as long-term weather projections predict increased variability, he said. This could include extended periods of drought due to climate change, Perkin said. But the small fish are also an important link between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.
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