SEAFWA 2018

AUTHORS: Zachary J. Loughman, West Liberty University; Bronwyn W. Williams, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences

ABSTRACT: Crayfishes play a central role in freshwaters throughout the southeastern U.S.A., yet are among the most imperiled organisms in these ecosystems. Many species face several threats, mitigation of which require a broad scale perspective. Our work focuses on three main goals: (1.) determining the range-wide conservation status of two FWS Region 4 priority taxa, Cambarus williami (TN) and Cambarus spicatus (NC/SC), (2.) performing reconnaissance of burrowing crayfishes for future dedicated projects (NC/SC and TN), and (3.) documenting the crayfish communities in the Duck (TN) and Santee basins (NC/SC) where the above focal taxa occur. The Duck and Santee both harbor additional crayfishes listed in each respective state’s SWAP and several undescribed crayfishes likely endemic to each basin, one of which – Cambarus polypilosus - we recently described. At least 20 crayfish species will benefit from this effort, substantially broadening the project’s overall conservation impact. Focusing on both historic and semi-randomly generated sites, we are using a suite of comprehensive abiotic and biotic characteristics recorded at each locale as covariates for logistic regression models to aid determination of preferred habitat associated with epigean crayfish species encountered in each basin. We aim to ultimately provide conservation planners at the state and federal level with the data to determine if C. spicatus and C. williami should remain on Region 4’s priority taxa list, and establish a multi-agency approach for long-term monitoring and other conservation efforts for both stable and imperiled southeastern crayfish communities.