Brian Metzke

• M.S. Biology - Eastern Illinois University
• Aquatic Ecologst at Illinois Department of Natural Resources

This project updated the Biological Stream Characterization (BSC) and Biologically Significant Streams (BSS) assessments to facilitate their continued use by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and state partners in characterizing biological conditions and assemblages in Illinois’ running waters. Both assessments were revised by dev...

Historic landscape-scale geological change often shapes contemporary distributions and phylogeographic patterns of species. Because of the long count of geologic events like glaciations, colonization or vicariance often yields distinct genetic signals. For species of conservation concern, understanding these processes can be an important part of id...

The North American freshwater genus Forbesichthys is composed of facultative cave-dwelling fishes restricted to springs and caves in southern Illinois, southeastern Missouri, southwestern Kentucky, and central Tennessee. These fishes were previously considered a single species, the Spring Cavefish (F. agassizii), but recent molecular evidence led t...

The taillight shiner, Notropis maculatus (Hay in Proc United States Natl Museum 3:488-515, 1881), primarily occurs in the southeastern United States, with rare occurrences in Illinois, where it is state listed as endangered. The first observation in Illinois was in 1987 and the species was last seen in the state in 1988. However, the taillight shin...

The recent elevation of Lepomis peltastes (Northern Sunfish) as a separate species from L. megalotis (Longear Sunfish) has resulted in an incomplete understanding of the species' distribution in Illinois, as most occurrence records cannot differentiate the 2 species. We evaluated Northern Sunfish and Longear Sunfish specimens to identify morphologi...

Fish hosts are critical for freshwater mus- sels. However, correlation between mussel and fish species richness (SR) is variable. Here, we examine how the environment affects this variability. We cal- culated mussel–fish SR ratios for 459 stream sites to capture the different responses of mussel and fish SR to environmental variables. We used Rando...

Lake Michigan, winding creeks, sprawling swamps, and one of the world’s great rivers--Illinois’s variety of aquatic habitats makes the Prairie State home to a diverse array of fishes. The first book of its kind in over forty years, An Atlas of Illinois Fishes is a combination of nature guide and natural history. It provides readers with an authorit...

Spring Cavefish (Forbesichthys agassizii) inhabit springs, streams and subterranean aquatic habitats from Missouri to Tennessee. In Il-linois, most fisheries survey programs do not sample habitats in which Spring Cavefish can be found, and therefore, its distribution and ecology are poorly understood in the state. We reviewed records of the species...

To effectively conserve and restore stream ecosystems, we need to better understand the distribution and abundance of individual fish species in relation to natural environments and anthropological stressors. In this study, we modeled the abundance of 97 fish species in small wadeable streams of Illinois, USA, based on random forests regression and...

We used new and existing information to revise and update the Streams Campaign of the Illinois Wildlife Action Plan (IWAP). The draft produced is organized around six focal themes and contains newly articulated goals developed with the assistance of the Streams Campaign Steering Committee. The draft includes sections describing the current status o...

The Illinois Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Plan and Strategy, also known as the Illinois Wildlife Action Plan (WAP, IDNR 2005) was designed to promote the preservation or enhancement of wildlife populations and associated habitats. Furthermore, it provides a framework for development of science-based actions and management procedures for ac...

Cladoceran community dynamics in limnetic systems often are correlated with temperature patterns. We sought to relate cladoceran temporal patterns and community composition to spatial and temporal temperature patterns in a cooling water reservoir (Newton Lake, Jasper County, Illinois). Effluent released into Newton Lake creates a temperature gradie...

Coolwater streams are less common in Illinois than their warmwater counterparts, but because of their unique temperature patterns they have the potential to harbor biota not typically found in warmwater streams. However, these systems are poorly understood and few attempts to define and characterize coolwater streams have been made in Illinois. Thi...

Grant/Contract No: T-13-P-001 INHS Technical Report Prepared for Department of Natural Resources