Topeka Shiner State Management Plan
Update - Critical Habitat Excluded from South Dakota
On July 27, 2004 the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service exempted the State of South Dakota from the list of states receiving critical habitat designation for the Topeka shiner. The exemption was based on the state's development of the Topeka Shiner Management Plan for the State of South Dakota. For more information, see the Final Rule to Designate Critical Habitat for the Topeka Shiner: http://mountain-prairie.fws.gov/species/fish/shiner/FRtshinerfinalCH.pdf
What is it?
The state management plan is a document that will establish conservation guidelines for the Topeka shiner in South Dakota.
The plan will discuss the current status of Topeka shiners, relevant research on the Topeka shiner, list possible impacts to the shiner and its habitat in SD, and address conservation strategies and tools (e.g. CRP, WRP) to mitigate potential impacts.
Several tasks of the state management plan will include:
Why do we need a state management plan?
Topeka shiner populations are more abundant and widespread in South Dakota than in other parts of the shiner’s range. Recent surveys have documented the Topeka shiner in nearly all of historically occupied streams as well as many new locations. Despite relatively abundant populations, Topeka shiners in South Dakota are regulated by the same guidelines in the Endangered Species Act as Topeka shiners in other states. An approved plan will establish more flexible guidelines for managing the Topeka shiner, thus alleviating some of the problems encountered when dealing with federally listed species. Furthermore, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has assured South Dakota that a completed management plan will avoid the need to list critical habitat in South Dakota.
Who is involved with the state management plan?
Part of SD Game, Fish & Parks’ mission is to conserve, manage, and protect South Dakota’s wildlife resources; therefore, it is logical that GF&P take the lead in developing and implementing the state management plan. Local, state, and federal entities are involved in providing input and comments, as the state plan will affect a variety of interests. In fact, active involvement of all government entities and influential private landowner interests will be critical to the successful implementation of the state management plan.
Stage of development
Initial plan developments started in June 2002 where a multi-agency meeting was held to discuss planning efforts and involvement. Plan goals, objectives, and components were discussed during a series of meetings through January 2003. A draft plan was made available for a 30-day public comment period. The final draft plan was submitted to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in August 2003.
Management Plan (Word Document)
Meeting Minutes: June 28, 2002
Meeting Minutes: October 9, 2002
Meeting Minutes: December 11, 2002
Meeting Minutes: January 14, 2003
Topeka Shiners in South Dakota
Upon first glance the Topeka shiner looks like just another minnow one would find in a typical prairie stream. But when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) listed the Topeka shiner (Notropis topeka) as a federally endangered species in January 1999, this otherwise ordinary minnow started receiving much greater attention. Outside South Dakota, various human impacts to the landscape caused drastic declines to the shiner’s range and population. Within South Dakota, however, the Topeka shiner tells a different tale.
The Topeka shiner is a small minnow (family: Cyprinidae) native to the prairie streams of the Great Plains. Named after the town near which it was first discovered (Topeka, KS), this shiner can reach three inches in length and live up to three years. While easily confused with the sand shiner, a common minnow found throughout much of South Dakota, the Topeka shiner can be identified by a dark stripe in front of its dorsal fin and a distinct wedge-shaped spot at the base of its tail. Males are more easily distinguished during the spawning season by their colorful, orange fins, as they occupy a small territory over gravelly substrate often around the periphery of sunfish nests. Food items range from zooplankton to plant material, though small aquatic insects are an important source.
Topeka shiners prefer small, quiet prairie streams with cool temperatures and good water quality. This shiner occupies a variety of habitats, such as runs, pools, and backwater areas. Preferred stream types tend to have clean gravel or sand substrates with vegetated banks of grasses and forbs. Groundwater flow into streams is especially important to Topeka shiners and other stream fish during late summer months to maintain cool, perennial flows. The Topeka shiner is a schooling fish, often associated with red shiners, bigmouth shiners, sand shiners, orangespotted sunfish, and black bullhead.
Topeka shiner streams in eastern South Dakota
Photos
courtesy of the SD Coop Unit - South Dakota State University
Eastern South Dakota lays on the northwestern edge of the Topeka shiner’s range. Other states within the specie range include southwestern Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, and Kansas, where studies suggest the shiner now occupies only 10% of its historic range. The picture is much brighter in South Dakota. The Topeka shiner occupies tributaries of the James, Vermillion, and Big Sioux rivers in eastern South Dakota. Recent studies by South Dakota State University, East Dakota Water Development District, and the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks have documented Topeka shiners in 80% of tributaries where the shiner was historically documented along with many new sites.
So how could a fish that has declined throughout most of its range be doing so well in South Dakota? Though a difficult question to answer, a closer examination of watershed-level activities may lend some insight. Human activities, whether intensive agriculture, construction and development, or point source pollution (e.g. wastewater discharges), often result in multiple impacts to aquatic systems. As is the case with many imperiled fish in the Midwest, declines in Topeka shiner abundance have been linked to habitat degradation, tributary impoundment, water withdrawals, sedimentation, and other water quality problems. Indeed, South Dakota streams face many of these problems, but perhaps to a lesser degree than streams have suffered elsewhere. Few streams in South Dakota are channelized, and while row crop agriculture is a major industry, most land adjacent to streams is reserved for grazing. Stockdams are prevalent throughout central and western South Dakota, but the vast majority of eastern streams remain free flowing. While these are just some of the differences between South Dakota and the rest of the shiner’s range, the demise of a species is often a result of a complex interaction of many variables.
Why should the plight of this small minnow concern us? After all, the shiner is not a game fish and most people have never seen one. But it’s the message the Topeka shiner, and other "indicator" species, relay that’s of importance. Eventually, all organisms (including people) are affected when a system becomes degraded, indicator species just respond sooner. The shiner can tell a story of a watershed’s past health and warn us of future problems. Luckily, the story portrayed in South Dakota is one of optimism. Early indications suggest that shiner populations are at least stable. The current status of the shiner in South Dakota is, in part, a testimony of good stewardship practices by landowners. Sustainable management of the land has, in turn, sustained the natural diversity of streams.
Some landowners are concerned about having endangered species on their land, often citing fear of government restrictions. However, landowners should not feel apprehensive about having Topeka shiners on their land, but rewarded in knowing they’ve preserved a part of the watershed’s integrity. The USFWS reviews federally funded projects and works with all parties involved to avoid impacts to species protected by the Endangered Species Act. Activities involving a federal permit, license, or funding require consideration of endangered species. Since the vast majority of day-to-day activities on private lands do not involve these federal ties, the presence of Topeka shiners, or any other federally listed species, should not unduly concern landowners.
Conservation and management activities for the Topeka shiner are taking place at both the federal and state level. The USFWS is drafting a Topeka shiner recovery plan, which will list potential threats, recovery goals, and conservation programs for the shiner. The USFWS is also designating critical habitat for the Topeka shiner. Critical habitat is an area deemed essential for the conservation and recovery for a particular species. Activities at the state level in South Dakota are more region specific for our own management goals.
South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks is currently working with other entities, including local, state, and federal interests, in the state to develop a Topeka shiner state management plan. The plan will allow for management of the Topeka shiner at the state level while still supporting national recovery efforts. The plan would identify habitat enhancement opportunities and landowner interest in partnership programs through local, state, and federal cooperation. Additionally, a completed plan should allow South Dakota to be excluded from critical habitat designation. Overall, South Dakota’s goal is to maintain current populations and habitat, a much easier task than that faced by other states within the Topeka shiner’s range.
On a national scale, the Topeka shiner has a long road to recovery that will require extensive efforts by many interest groups. Despite this long road, there are bright spots along the way. Good stewardship and conservation practices have allowed South Dakota to set an example for other states. By following South Dakota’s lead, other states will not only witness a recovery in their Topeka shiner populations, but improvements to their watersheds as a whole.
Article originally published in South Dakota Conservation Digest, September/October 2002.
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12/22/2004