Multiscale Analysis of Natural Variability in Stream Fish Assemblages of a Western Great Plains Watershed

Copeia ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 1997 (4) ◽  
pp. 706 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel C. Lohr ◽  
Kurt D. Fausch
Keyword(s):  
Great Plains ◽  
Multiscale Analysis ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Natural Variability ◽  
Stream Fish ◽  
Western Great Plains ◽  
Stream Fish Assemblages

Landscape influences on stream fish assemblages across spatial scales in a northern Great Plains ecoregion

2008 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry F Wilson ◽  
Marguerite A Xenopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Great Plains ◽  
Fish Species ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Species Assemblages ◽  
Northern Great Plains ◽  
Stream Fish ◽  
Stream Fish Assemblages ◽  
Nms Ordination

We examined the relationship between multiple spatial scales of fish assemblage structure and land cover in streams of a northern Great Plains ecoregion. We used regional richness measurements, an index of biotic integrity (IBI), and nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMS) ordination to characterize fish assemblages. These metrics were related to regional catchment landscape at two spatial scales (overall catchment, overall riparian) and then to a set of local subcatchments from within these catchments at three scales (overall subcatchment, overall riparian buffer, and reach). Relationships between catchment fish richness, IBI scores, and landscape predictors were strongest at the riparian scale, with the strongest single predictor being riparian forest (r2 = 0.63, P < 0.01). NMS ordination analysis showed clear similarities between fish species assemblages in agriculturally dominated catchments and assemblages found in smaller headwater streams. At the same time, forested catchments and catchments with larger areas exhibited similar fish species assemblages. Our results indicate that both local and regional stream fish assemblages are structured by broader-scale landscape characteristics, with land cover providing a better indication of overall available habitat volume than catchment area or stream order.

Effects of reservoir connectivity on stream fish assemblages in the Great Plains

2006 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 480-493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey A Falke ◽  
Keith B Gido
Keyword(s):  
Great Plains ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Stream Fish ◽  
Fish Assemblage Structure ◽  
Reservoir Species ◽  
Notropis Stramineus ◽  
Pimephales Notatus ◽  
Stream Fish Assemblages ◽  
Reservoir Connectivity

The upstream effects of reservoirs on stream fish assemblages were highly localized in 3rd- through 5th-order streams in the Great Plains, USA. Streams that differed in connectivity to reservoirs were sampled at their confluences with a river or reservoir and between the confluence and the stream's origin. Sites at confluences had higher total, nonnative, and reservoir species richness than middle sites. Variability in fish assemblage structure upstream of reservoirs was influenced by catchment area, stream size, gradient, and reservoir connectivity. Confluence sites connected to reservoirs were correctly classified based on the presence of red shiners (Cyprinella lutrensis) and bluntnose minnows (Pimephales notatus) and the absence of sand shiners (Notropis stramineus); middle sites on connected streams were classified by the absence of redfin shiners (Lythrurus umbratilis). Intensive sampling across pool habitats within two streams isolated by a reservoir indicated that abundance of common reservoir species was related to pool size, turbidity, and canopy cover, but not proximity to the reservoir. These data suggest that streams connected to reservoirs can maintain diverse native fish communities with minimal invasions by reservoir-dwelling species, but a fraction of the community either has been lost or occurs at low abundance (e.g., sand shiners and redfin shiners).

scholarly journals Groundwater declines are linked to changes in Great Plains stream fish assemblages

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (28) ◽  
pp. 7373-7378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshuah S. Perkin ◽  
Keith B. Gido ◽  
Jeffrey A. Falke ◽  
Kurt D. Fausch ◽  
Harry Crockett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Great Plains ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
High Plains ◽  
Stream Fish ◽  
Fish Assemblage Structure ◽  
Stream Fishes ◽  
Groundwater Pumping ◽  
Small Stream ◽  
Stream Fish Assemblages

Groundwater pumping for agriculture is a major driver causing declines of global freshwater ecosystems, yet the ecological consequences for stream fish assemblages are rarely quantified. We combined retrospective (1950–2010) and prospective (2011–2060) modeling approaches within a multiscale framework to predict change in Great Plains stream fish assemblages associated with groundwater pumping from the United States High Plains Aquifer. We modeled the relationship between the length of stream receiving water from the High Plains Aquifer and the occurrence of fishes characteristic of small and large streams in the western Great Plains at a regional scale and for six subwatersheds nested within the region. Water development at the regional scale was associated with construction of 154 barriers that fragment stream habitats, increased depth to groundwater and loss of 558 km of stream, and transformation of fish assemblage structure from dominance by large-stream to small-stream fishes. Scaling down to subwatersheds revealed consistent transformations in fish assemblage structure among western subwatersheds with increasing depths to groundwater. Although transformations occurred in the absence of barriers, barriers along mainstem rivers isolate depauperate western fish assemblages from relatively intact eastern fish assemblages. Projections to 2060 indicate loss of an additional 286 km of stream across the region, as well as continued replacement of large-stream fishes by small-stream fishes where groundwater pumping has increased depth to groundwater. Our work illustrates the shrinking of streams and homogenization of Great Plains stream fish assemblages related to groundwater pumping, and we predict similar transformations worldwide where local and regional aquifer depletions occur.

scholarly journals Land cover, riparian zones and instream habitat influence stream fish assemblages in the eastern Amazon

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 317-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luciano F. A. Montag ◽  
Kirk O. Winemiller ◽  
Friedrich W. Keppeler ◽  
Híngara Leão ◽  
Naraiana L. Benone ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Riparian Zones ◽  
Stream Fish ◽  
Stream Fish Assemblages

Fluctuation and variation in stream-fish assemblages after a catastrophic flood in the Miyagawa River, Japan

2011 ◽  
Vol 92 (4) ◽  
pp. 447-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuichi Kano ◽  
Kaori Ohnishi ◽  
Yasuo Tomida ◽  
Naoyo Ikeda ◽  
Naomi Iwawaki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Stream Fish ◽  
Catastrophic Flood ◽  
Stream Fish Assemblages

Diversity and stability in Mississippi stream fish assemblages

2012 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 882-894 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob F. Schaefer ◽  
Scott R. Clark ◽  
Melvin L. Warren
Keyword(s):  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Stream Fish ◽  
Stream Fish Assemblages

Advances in Understanding Landscape Influences on Freshwater Habitats and Biological Assemblages

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Fish Assemblage ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Urban Land ◽  
Urban Land Use ◽  
Stream Fish ◽  
Landscape Variables ◽  
Stream Fish Assemblages ◽  
Anthropogenic Land Use ◽  
Assemblage Metrics

<i>Abstract.</i>—Anthropogenic activities including urbanization, agriculture, and dams degrade stream habitats and are a dominant reason for global biodiversity declines in fluvial fish assemblages. Declining diversity trends have been well documented in many regions of the world; however, fishes vary regionally in response to anthropogenic land use, resulting from complex relationships between landscape variables and mechanisms controlling stream fish assemblages. To test for differences in regional fish response to anthropogenic land use, we conducted our study across five freshwater ecoregions in the temperate mesic portion of the United States and evaluated data characterizing stream fish assemblages from 10,522 locations across all study freshwater ecoregions. Fishes were summarized by metrics describing assemblage structure, trophic groupings of species, levels of tolerance to anthropogenic stressors, and life history characteristics, with seven metrics used for analyses. Natural and anthropogenic landscape variables were assessed across freshwater ecoregions, and we tested for regionally specific influences of percent catchment urbanization, percent catchment agriculture, and catchment densities of dams and stream-road crossings on stream fishes. We used cascade multivariate regression trees to quantify variance explained in fish metrics by these landscape variables after controlling for influences of natural landscape variables, including catchment area, catchment lithology, and elevation of study sites. Results indicated differences in dominant influences by freshwater ecoregion, as well as differences in the levels of anthropogenic land use influencing fishes within and across freshwater ecoregions. For example, urban land use was the most influential anthropogenic land use in both Appalachian Piedmont and Chesapeake Bay freshwater ecoregions, with fish assemblage metrics showing responses at 10% and 1% catchment urban land use, respectively. In contrast, dam density in the network catchment was the most influential anthropogenic variable on fish assemblage metrics in both the Laurentian Great Lakes and Middle Missouri freshwater ecoregions. Also, large amounts of agriculture in the catchment was the most influential anthropogenic land use on fish assemblage metrics in the Upper Mississippi freshwater ecoregion. Knowledge of regional differences in the top contributing anthropogenic landscape variables and the levels at which fish assemblages respond to these variables lends insight into mechanisms controlling stream fish assemblages by freshwater ecoregions and can aid in development of region-specific conservation strategies to prevent biodiversity loss from current and future anthropogenic land use.

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