Share with Wildlife | BISON-M

Tracking Elusive Fish

Perhaps you’ve looked into the clear water of a river and thought, there’s no way there are any fish living here. The water’s too shallow and I can’t see any fish moving around in the water anyway. Well, if you’ve ever thought that about the lower Pecos River, think again. The Pecos is teaming with a diversity of small-bodied fish that may elude the eye, and at times the biologist’s seine.

How can you study these small and sometimes rare fish that often evade capture via traditional survey techniques? And capturing them isn’t even the hardest part; once you have them in hand, it takes a trained eye to identify them to species. Drs. Matt Barnes and Allison Pease and graduate student Kelbi Delaune from Texas Tech University are working to answer this question. They are developing genetic markers that, once fully tested, would enable a biologist to collect and filter a water sample, extract DNA from the filtered sample, and determine whether any of seven different species of interest for this Share with Wildlife-supported project are present upstream of where the water sample was collected. Focal species for this project include the Pecos Pupfish, Blue Sucker, and Gray Redhorse.

This sort of non-invasive, genetic-based sampling raises many questions. These questions relate to how long it takes for DNA to degrade once it is released into a river; how far the DNA may travel before it is no longer detectable; how the morphology of the river channel impacts the path that the DNA takes as it travels downstream; and whether there is a direct, dependable relationship between the amount of DNA detected in the water and the number of individuals of a particular species in the river, and how various environmental variables impact this relationship. This project will help elucidate some of the answers to these questions, especially regarding whether the amount of DNA in a water sample tells us anything about the relative abundance of the focal aquatic species.

Projects that will start in 2018 have been selected (see list below). A call for 2019 projects will be released in spring, 2018.

 

These forms are provided for informational purposes to individuals and organizations submitting a proposal to the Share with Wildlife program in response to an active Call For Project Information. These forms should not be submitted to the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish unless an employee of the Department directly contacts you and requests that you fill them out as part of the process of implementing a professional services contract for a new Share with Wildlife project.

Campaign Contribution Disclosure Form

Compliance with Government Conduct Act

Substitute Form W-9

Applicants for a Share with Wildlife project who intend to capture and handle animals or use live animals and/or animal parts for educational purposes for their project may need to obtain a scientific collection permit or educational program permit from the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. Please see the Special Use Permits page for more information and contact dgf.permits@state.nm.us with questions.

Archived Reports (Currently unavailable)

New Mexico wildlife needs your help! Share with Wildlife funds numerous projects related to wildlife habitat enhancement, wildlife-related education, wildlife rehabilitation, and research on wildlife biology and ecology every year. All projects are made possible through donations made by members of the public.

To make a donation, you may donate part of the refund on your state tax return; purchase a Share with Wildlife license plate or make any dollar amount donation online (minimum $2; see more information below); or mail in a check using this donation form. All donated funds go to supporting wildlife; none are used for administrative costs.

Thank you for your support of New Mexico’s wildlife!

Share with Wildlife - Donation Form (Word) Share with Wildlife - Donation Form (PDF)

Download the PDF to support wildlife by ordering the Share with Wildlife license plate. PDF made available from MVD New Mexico.

You can donate to Share with Wildlife through your Online Licensing System account by clicking Customer Login located at the top of this website:

On the Online Licensing System website (shown below) please enter your Username (or Customer ID or Email) and Password, and then click the Login button:

Once you are logged in, if you only wish to donate to Share with Wildlife, click on the Share with Wildlife button on the home page:

Type any dollar amount (minimum $2.00) you wish to donate in the Enter Donation Amount box (shown below) and click Review Order:

Dismiss any pop-up windows (shown below) regarding purchasing other items by clicking the OK button:

Click the Add to Cart button (shown below) at the top of the Review Order page:

On the next screen, click Checkout and continue on to complete your purchase.

OR

Once you are logged in, if you are purchasing other items through the Online Licensing System, go to License Sales | General License Sales from the Main Menu (shown below):

After you read the Terms of Agreement on the next page and click the Continue button, you will see a list of Available Products. Locate the Share with Wildlife Donation product ($10 donation only) OR the Share with Wildlife Extra Donation product ($2.00 minimum donation; type dollar amount in Enter Donation Amount box) and click the check box next to (add to order). Click the Review Order button:

Dismiss any pop-up windows (shown above) regarding purchasing other items by clicking the OK button. Click the Add to Cart button (shown above) at the top of the Review Order page. On the next screen, click Checkout and continue on to complete your purchase.