6 | CONCLUSIONS
Given the lackluster success of reintroducing extirpated fish
populations from hatchery broodstock (CochranâBiederman et al .,
2015; Lamothe and Drake, 2019), managers will undoubtedly need to
identify ways to improve factors that contributed to initial (and
current) population declines to make long-term conservation progress.
Here, we address this challenge by identifying and quantifying the
relative influence of continued and new stressors on the conservation of
an imperiled species. Our study suggests that further assessing whether
contemporary prey abundances are limiting the establishment of Colorado
Pikeminnow in the San Juan River is an important next step in
identifying requisite management actions under continued river
regulation and native species loss. This study further contributes to
the growing understanding of trophic structure changes that may occur
following river regulation (e.g., DeBoer et al . 2022; DeLonget al . 2011; DeLong et al. 2021; Thoms and DeLong, 2018;
Turner et al ., 2015).