The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WVDNR) is an agency of the government of the U.S. state of West Virginia. While formerly known as the cabinet-level Department of Natural Resources, it is now part of the West Virginia Department of Commerce. The WVDNR is responsible for wildlife management, hunting and fishing regulations, and boater safety and also oversees state parks and resorts. It also operates the West Virginia State Wildlife Center, a zoo in French Creek that exhibits West Virginian wildlife.
IntroductionNonnative fishes in streams and inland lakes can substantially alter aquatic ecosystems by degrading habitat conditions, competing with native species, and restructuring food webs. Identifying invasion hotspots can inform proactive management and prevention of nonnative species establishment.MethodsIn this study, we identified streams and lakes across the conterminous United States that are vulnerable to invasion by 18 nonnative stream and 28 nonnative lake fish species. Habitat suitability models were developed separately for stream and lake species across nine ecoregions using natural and anthropogenic predictors, and species occurrences were predicted by integrating model results with climate match scores based on comparisons between environmental conditions in species’ native and potential nonnative ranges. We classified areas with both high habitat suitability and strong climate similarity as having high invasion potential and generated hotspot maps by stacking species-level predictions.ResultsFlorida exhibits the highest invasion risk for both habitat types. Stream hotspots were concentrated near major metropolitan areas, whereas lake hotspots were more widely distributed across the Great Lakes basin and the northeastern U.S. Twelve species were predicted to invade both habitat types, with goldfish (Carassius auratus) and pirapitinga (Piaractus brachypomus) showing particularly high invasion potential.DiscussionThese findings provide a comprehensive assessment of nonnative freshwater fish invasion risk and support targeted monitoring and management strategies.
Through the end of the 21st century, biodiversity is expected to markedly decline around the world due to climate change, habitat loss, and other factors. Thus, there is a growing need for more efficient, effective, and collaborative conservation efforts worldwide. While many global and national threat assessment databases exist, utility at regional and local scales is limited, yet on-the-ground conservation is most effectively implemented at these scales. To identify species risk at a regional scale, 14 northeastern United States state fish and wildlife agencies, along with other taxonomic experts across this region, developed the most recent Northeast Regional Species of Greatest Conservation Need (RSGCN) list. Comparing a preliminary list compiled from global and national datasets with the finalized RSGCN list after a three-part evaluation process conducted by regional and state fish and wildlife agency taxonomic experts, we found the global and national datasets accurately identified only similar to 55% of RSGCN statuses for the region, highlighting the importance of incorporating local and regional expertise with current data. Identifying the northeastern US RSGCN has resulted in specific, actionable information leading to beneficial conservation outcomes for species and habitats across the region, such as dedicated funding for regional initiatives, data sharing, and coordination among regional, state, and local conservation organizations. Furthermore, our process facilitated regional actions contributing to federal delisting or a listing finding of 'not warranted' for four species. The methods described serve as a framework for other regions to identify conservation targets using best available and localized landscape- and watershed-scale information.
Sarcoptic mange is a skin disease caused by the parasitic mite Sarcoptes scabiei that affects humans and over 150 species of domestic animals and wildlife worldwide. For the American black bear (Ursus americanus), sarcoptic mange is considered a significant emerging disease and case numbers have increased dramatically over the past four decades. While molecular techniques, such as DNA sequencing, are commonly used for diagnosis of clinical cases, they remain underutilized for studying cross-species transmission and regional mite variation. We captured complete mitochondrial genomes from S. scabiei mites (n = 17) collected from infested black bears in the Eastern United States (U.S.) using custom-designed oligonucleotide baits. These full mitogenomes were then used to refine primers targeting the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene. We then amplified and analyzed 285 COI sequences from S. scabiei collected across multiple North American wildlife hosts to assess their utility in inferring regional diversity and host-associated genetic structure. Full mitogenome comparisons with sequences from the U.S., Japan, and Australia revealed three major global S. scabiei clades, with two circulating among North American black bears. The COI haplotype networks showed regional clustering rather than host-specific patterns, suggesting that ecological or geographic factors influence transmission dynamics. Our findings confirm the presence of multiple S. scabiei lineages in American black bears and other U.S. wildlife and support the use of the COI gene for large-scale, cost-effective screening of genetic variation and shared haplotypes across host species. The integration of mitogenome and COI data offers a scalable model for investigating S. scabiei diversity in wildlife and domestic hosts.
