Plains fish identification training improves staff performance and data quality

Plains fish identification training improves staff performance and data quality

Abstract: Species misidentifications during field surveys of aquatic organisms results in mis-estimated distributions, biased occupancy analyses, and possibly, inappropriate conservation actions. Morphologically similar organisms, including some native fishes of Great Plains streams, demand rigorous attention during identifications. However, fish identification for technicians is sometimes conducted informally by staff whose training may have occurred years prior, or who may not have been properly trained themselves, which can result in perpetuation of incorrect characteristics being used and species misidentifications. In addition, a common practice is training workers only to identify species they are likely to encounter, which results in confusion if a nearby species invades, but is misidentified as a more common native taxa in the study area. We used a timed-testing approach implemented before and after a 2-day identification short course to quantify potential Great Plains fish misidentification rates and to demonstrate the utility of formal training to reduce these errors. Post-workshop results showed participants with 0 and up to 8 years of plains stream fish experience improved species identification scores. As expected, improvement was greatest in participants who had the least amount of experience; post-workshop scores increased up to ten-fold compared to pre-workshop. Consistent improvement of even experienced participants demonstrates the value of ongoing training. An unexpected result was reduced use of the answer “don’t know” in the post-workshop exam. This behavior occurred even with appropriate cautions against guessing if participant identification was uncertain, knowing false-positive identifications are particularly problematic in analyses. Repeated supervisor checks on identification proficiency during the field season may reduce overconfidence. A formalized training program will improve identification proficiency during field surveys of plains stream fishes, which should aid conservation decision-making.

Fitzpatrick, Ryan

Plains fish identification training

19:57

2021-02-13

English

Aquatic Research Presentations

http://youtu.be/s6pulFnq04I

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/s6pulFnq04I/default.jpg