The mission of the Kansas Aquatic Gap Project is to map aquatic
biodiversity in Kansas and link it to habitat characteristics. This
will allow determination of local species of concern. Kansas Gap
is also part of a larger group that is describing the biodiversity of the
Missouri River Basin. We hope to establish the presence of ecoregions,
and provide products that will allow management of species of concern on
a regional basis. Finally, we will make our aquatic data
compatable with Kansas terrestrial Gap.
The following objectives will assist in characterization
of biodiversity of aquatic habitats of Kansas:
1.
Define ranges all fish and mussel species within ecologically-distinct
drainage basins using data compiled from known records
2. Determine
species richness by valley segments within these drainage basins.
3.
Define habitat affinities for each species by valley segment characteristics.
4.
Predict occurrence of each species to areas where collections have not
occured by extrapolation from habitat affinities.
We will use methods developed by the Missouri Aquatic GAP pilot project.
Our data will be in a format compatable with that of surrounding states.
