Stream drying, especially in the western United States, is becoming more common as the climate warms and precipitation patterns become less predictable; consequently, fisheries managers need to prioritize conservation efforts where water (and fish) will persist in the future. Yellow Creek in the upper Bear River watershed (Utah and Wyoming) contains one of the largest remaining populations of Northern Leatherside Chub Lepidomeda copei, an imperiled fish. Lower reaches are drying during summer months, partly due to water withdrawals, thus reducing Northern Leatherside Chub populations and relegating the remaining fish to isolated pools until the water returns. This study used an unmanned aerial vehicle to capture high-resolution and spatially explicit imagery over 19 km of Yellow Creek in a few weeks during late August when the water is the most limiting to the fish. Through imagery and subsequent GIS analysis, we identified 405 previously unknown potential refuge-pool habitats for Northern Leatherside Chub and determined their location, size, and spatial distribution, thereby helping managers prioritize stream reaches for native fish conservation and restoration. While the cost of unmanned aerial vehicle flights was estimated to be 2.5 times that of on-the-ground surveys in 2016, unmanned aerial vehicle technology continues to become more cost effective and, unlike traditional surveys, provides high-resolution and spatially referenced data.

中文翻译：

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无人机技术证明是一种有效且高效的识别关键本地鱼类栖息地的技术

随着气候变暖和降水模式变得难以预测，河流干燥，尤其是在美国西部，变得越来越普遍；因此，渔业管理者需要优先考虑未来水（和鱼）将持续存在的保护工作。位于熊河上游流域（犹他州和怀俄明州）的 Yellow Creek 是北莱皮赛德 Chub Lepidomedacopei 现存最大的种群之一，一条濒临灭绝的鱼。下游在夏季月份会变干，部分原因是取水，从而减少了北莱瑟赛德鲢鱼的数量，并将剩余的鱼放到孤立的水池中，直到水回来。这项研究使用无人驾驶飞行器在 8 月下旬的几周内捕获了黄河 19 公里范围内的高分辨率和空间明确的图像，当时水对鱼类来说是最有限的。通过图像和随后的 GIS 分析，我们确定了 405 个以前未知的北莱瑟赛德鱼的潜在避难池栖息地，并确定了它们的位置、大小和空间分布，从而帮助管理人员优先考虑河流河段以进行本地鱼类保护和恢复。而无人机飞行的成本估计为 2。