title: Patterns of Freshwater Species Richness, Endemism, and Vulnerability in California.
abstract: The ranges and abundances of species that depend on freshwater habitats are declining worldwide. Efforts to counteract those trends are often hampered by a lack of information about species distribution and conservation status and are often strongly biased toward a few well-studied groups. We identified the 3,906 vascular plants, macroinvertebrates, and vertebrates native to California, USA, that depend on fresh water for at least one stage of their life history. We evaluated the conservation status for these taxa using existing government and non-governmental organization assessments (e.g., endangered species act, NatureServe), created a spatial database of locality observations or distribution information from ~400 data sources, and mapped patterns of richness, endemism, and vulnerability. Although nearly half of all taxa with conservation status (n = 1,939) are vulnerable to extinction, only 114 (6%) of those vulnerable taxa have a legal mandate for protection in the form of formal inclusion on a state or federal endangered species list. Endemic taxa are at greater risk than non-endemics, with 90% of the 927 endemic taxa vulnerable to extinction. Records with spatial data were available for a total of 2,276 species (61%). The patterns of species richness differ depending on the taxonomic group analyzed, but are similar across taxonomic level. No particular taxonomic group represents an umbrella for all species, but hotspots of high richness for listed species cover 40% of the hotspots for all other species and 58% of the hotspots for vulnerable freshwater species. By mapping freshwater species hotspots we show locations that represent the top priority for conservation action in the state. This study identifies opportunities to fill gaps in the evaluation of conservation status for freshwater taxa in California, to address the lack of occurrence information for nearly 40% of freshwater taxa and nearly 40% of watersheds in the state, and to implement adequate protections for freshwater taxa where they are currently lacking.
authors.affiliation: The Nature Conservancy, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jeanette K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Howard
authors.affiliation: The Nature Conservancy, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Kirk R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Klausmeyer
authors.affiliation: Trout Unlimited, Boise, Idaho, United States of America.
authors.forename: Kurt A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Fesenmyer
authors.affiliation: USDA Forest Service, Vallejo, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Furnish
authors.affiliation: Point Blue Conservation Science, Petaluma, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gardali
authors.affiliation: Center for Watershed Sciences and Department of Wildlife Fish and Conservation Biology, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Ted
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Grantham
authors.affiliation: Center for Watershed Sciences and Department of Wildlife Fish and Conservation Biology, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jacob V E
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Katz
authors.affiliation: Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kupferberg
authors.affiliation: Biogeographic Data Branch, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Sacramento, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: McIntyre
authors.affiliation: Center for Watershed Sciences and Department of Wildlife Fish and Conservation Biology, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Peter B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Moyle
authors.affiliation: Aquatic Bioassessment Laboratory, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Rancho Cordova, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Peter R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Ode
authors.affiliation: Center for Watershed Sciences and Department of Wildlife Fish and Conservation Biology, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Ryan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Peek
authors.affiliation: Center for Watershed Sciences and Department of Wildlife Fish and Conservation Biology, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Rebecca M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Quiñones
authors.affiliation: Biogeographic Data Branch, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Sacramento, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Andrew C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Rehn
authors.affiliation: Center for Watershed Sciences and Department of Wildlife Fish and Conservation Biology, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Nick
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: Biogeographic Data Branch, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Sacramento, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schoenig
authors.affiliation: The Nature Conservancy, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Larry
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Serpa
authors.affiliation: The Nature Conservancy, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jackson D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Shedd
authors.affiliation: Biogeographic Data Branch, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Sacramento, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Joe
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Slusark
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering, University of California Merced, Merced, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Joshua H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Viers
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States of America.
authors.forename: Amber
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.affiliation: The Nature Conservancy, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Scott A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Morrison
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D002140:California; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D005618:Fresh Water; D007448:Invertebrates / Q000145:classification; D010944:Plants / Q000145:classification; D014714:Vertebrates / Q000145:classification