Smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) occur naturally in eastern and central North America, extending from southern Canada through the central United States. However, the species has been introduced outside of its native range throughout the United States and in other countries, often with significant impacts on aquatic ecosystems. Smallmouth bass can outcompete and directly consume native species, leading to declines in populations of native fishes and invertebrates. For example, the introduction of smallmouth bass in the Coquille River has been implicated in the near extirpation of the fall Chinook salmon population in that basin. After smallmouth bass have become established in novel habitats, suppression or eradication of the species is difficult and resource intensive. Efforts to prevent new introductions and to strategically allocate monitoring resources to support early detection and intervention can be informed by assessing vulnerability of habitats to colonization and establishment of smallmouth bass.

Our objectives are to:

1. Assess habitat suitability for smallmouth bass in currently unoccupied watersheds on the Oregon coast.
2. Identify criteria to use, along with modeled habitat suitability, to assess the vulnerability of currently unoccupied watersheds to colonization and establishment by smallmouth bass.
3. Identify a suite of potential sentinel monitoring locations to support early detection of smallmouth bass in vulnerable coastal basins.

Our initial focus in this project is to map habitat suitability for smallmouth bass in coastal Oregon watersheds.

Find out more about in this project overview.