1. To assess the impacts of human activity on fishes and fish habitat, impact assessment tools use single‐ and multi‐species approaches depending on the ecological and socio‐economic objectives. In Canadian aquatic ecosystems, single‐ and multi‐species impact assessments are guided by the Species at Risk Act and Fisheries Act, respectively. Yet, for species protected under the Species at Risk Act, the sparse data often require alternative approaches to risk assessment.
2. The goal of this study was to evaluate whether a database‐derived multi‐species tool – the Habitat Ecosystem Assessment Tool (HEAT) – can be used for single‐species impact assessments. Using an empirical example of proposed drain maintenance in a tributary of Lake St. Clair, the net loss of suitable habitat was evaluated across six conservation targets, ranging from single species, such as the pugnose shiner (Notropis anogenus) and the yellow perch (Perca flavescens), to the entire fish assemblage. Model outcomes were compared across various habitat suitability indices, spatial resolutions, and environmental habitat layers.
3. The net loss of suitable habitat varied widely across conservation targets and was greatest for the rare specialist species (pugnose shiner). Single‐species conservation targets were more sensitive to variation in spatial resolution and uncertainty in model input parameters. The results of this study emphasize that single‐ and multi‐species conservation targets should not be considered equal, especially when species differ in abundance and niche breadth.
4. This study demonstrates the flexibility of HEAT for evaluating potential impacts of human disturbance on fishes and their habitat. Future development of this tool should expand beyond physical habitat, to include other factors relevant to species distribution and survival (e.g. biotic interactions).

中文翻译：

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将多物种工具改编为单物种影响评估：在加拿大管理有风险的鱼类

1. 为了评估人类活动对鱼类和鱼类栖息地的影响，影响评估工具根据生态和社会经济目标使用单种和多种方法。在加拿大的水生生态系统中，单物种和多物种影响评估分别以《濒危物种法》和《渔业法》为指导。但是，对于受《濒危物种法》保护的物种，稀疏数据通常需要采用其他方法进行风险评估。
2. 这项研究的目的是评估是否可以将数据库衍生的多物种工具（生境生态系统评估工具（HEAT））用于单物种影响评估。使用建议在圣克莱尔湖支流中进行排水维持的经验实例，评估了六个养护目标的适宜生境净损失，这些养护目标的范围从单一物种，例如布吉斯（Notropis anogenus）和黄鲈（Perca） flavescens），到整个鱼群。在各种栖息地适宜性指数，空间分辨率和环境栖息地层之间比较了模型结果。
3. 适宜的生境的净损失因保护目标的不同而有很大差异，对于稀有的专业物种（预言者）而言，损失最大。单物种保护目标对空间分辨率的变化和模型输入参数的不确定性更为敏感。这项研究的结果强调，不应将单物种和多物种的保护目标视为相等，尤其是当物种的丰度和生态位宽度不同时。
4. 这项研究表明，HEAT可以灵活地评估人为干扰对鱼类及其栖息地的潜在影响。该工具的未来发展应扩大到物理栖息地之外，以包括与物种分布和生存有关的其他因素（例如生物相互作用）。