PROTECTING WISCONSIN'S BIODIVERSITY

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Community Name	Global Rank	State Rank	Community Group

Stream--Slow, Hard, Warm

State Rank: SU

Global Rank: GNR

Photo by Thomas Meyer

Counties with Mapped NHI Occurrences

Warmwater streams are flowing waters with maximum water temperatures typically greater than 77 deg F. These streams are common statewide and include very large rivers such as the Mississippi, Wisconsin, Chippewa, Fox, Wolf, and Rock Rivers as well as smaller rivers such as the Sugar, Baraboo, Milwaukee, Flambeau, and Yellow Rivers. A rich fish fauna, dominated by warmwater species in the Cyprinidae, Catostomidae, Centrarchidae, Ictaluridae, and Percidae families can be found in warmwater streams and rivers.

Key Environmental Factors

Natural, periodic flood flows, most often driven by spring snow melt and rains, are important to the health of floodplain forests and wetlands, and to the maintenance of self-sustaining populations of wetland-spawning fish like walleye and northern pike. The aquatic life dependent upon these rivers and their floodwaters also support a variety of mammalian and avian species. Free-flowing, un-dammed rivers are a critical factor in the existence and perpetuation of widely distributed populations of certain species, especially sturgeon and several mollusk species that require a far-ranging fish host to complete their life cycle. Dams established for a variety of purposes (power generation, navigation, flood control, and recreation) caused noticeable declines in some mollusks by blocking the movement of their fish hosts.
Streams modified by dams, agricultural drainage, or increased flows due to changes in land cover have lost varying degrees of their pre-development biological productivity and diversity. Improvement work has focused on three main objectives, reducing bank erosion and in-stream sedimentation, restoring a more natural channel morphology and alignment, and increasing in-stream cover.

Wildlife Action Plan

Associated Species and Ecological Landscapes

Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) are associated with habitats (or natural communities) and places on the landscape. Understanding relationships among SGCN, natural communities and ecological landscapes help us make decisions about issues affecting SGCN and their habitat and how to respond. Download the Wildlife Action Plan association score spreadsheet to explore rare species, natural communities and ecological landscape associations

Issues/Threats and Conservation Actions

Conservation actions respond to issues or threats, which adversely affect species of greatest conservation need (SGCN) or their habitats. Besides actions such as restoring wetlands or planting resilient tree species in northern communities, research, surveys and monitoring are also among conservation actions described in the Wisconsin Wildlife Action Plan because lack of information can threaten our ability to successfully preserve and care for natural resources.

PROTECTING WISCONSIN'S BIODIVERSITY

Stream--Slow, Hard, Warm

Rare Species & Natural Communities

Additional Resources

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