3.5 Freshwater Fish
3.5 Freshwater Fish 3.5.1 Introduction
Te freshwater fsh fauna of the southeastern United States is among the most diverse fauna in North America and one of the most imperiled because of pollution, fow alteration, habitat loss, and fragmentation of freshwater systems (Ashton and Layzer 2010) . Freshwater communities are likely the most threatened ecosystems in the world, making aquatic organisms important indicators of degraded ecological conditions (Leidy and Moyle 1998; Jelks et al. 2008) . Habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation resulting from anthropogenic activi- ties can have the most signifcant impact to natural communities at the landscape level. Flow modifcations, introduction of nonnative species, and overuse also have signifcant impacts at the local and regional level.
During the last two decades, several assessments considered the imperilment of freshwater fsh species including those found in North Carolina. Te 2005 WAP (Chapter 5B) referred to reports published by Etnier (1997) and Warren et al. (1997) that identifed patterns of imperilment of fsh by family and major habitat preference and a report by Butler (2002) that assessed conser- vation priorities for fshes in the Southern Appalachian Ecoregion. More recently, the AFS has published an updated assessment
Piedmont Shiner (TR Russ, NCWRC)
of the conservation status of imperiled freshwater and diadromous fshes of North America (Jelks et al. 2008) . More information is available on the USGS website http://f.biology.usgs.gov/afs/index.html. As part of the updated assessment, the AFS Endangered Species Committee (AFS-ESC) developed a map of freshwater ecoregions that represented modifcations of earlier ecore- gional maps used by Maxwell et al. (1995) , Abell et al. (2000, 2008) , and others. Te AFS-ESC map for North America indicates the southeastern United States has three ecoregions with especially large numbers of imperiled fshes. North Carolina is located within two of these ecoregions. Te South Atlantic ecoregion (Atlantic Complex) has 34 species considered imperiled and the Tennessee ecoregion (Mississippi Complex) has 58 species considered imperiled. Te report noted that the Tennessee River ecoregion has the greatest number of imperiled fshes in comparison with other US ecoregions (Jelks et al. 2008) .
Te AFS assessment states that approximately 39% of described fsh species in North America are imperiled: 280 extant taxa are considered endangered, 190 are threatened,
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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