scholarly journals Influences of Multiscale Land Cover Characteristics and Specific Conductivity on Fish Assemblages in the Nolichucky River Watershed, Tennessee

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hayley S. Gotwald ◽  
J. Brian Alford
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Fish Species ◽  
Fish Assemblage ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Specific Conductivity ◽  
Fish Assemblage Structure ◽  
Catchment Scale ◽  
River Watershed

We evaluated the potential of using fish species and functional traits as indicators of land use impacts to fish assemblages. We used environmental data collected at multiple spatial scales (local, reach, and upstream catchment) for 19 tributary and main stem sites in the Nolichucky River watershed in Tennessee. Canonical correspondence analyses showed that temperature, elevation, specific conductivity, sediment yield, impervious surfaces, and row crop cover at the catchment scale were strongly associated with fish assemblage structure, as well as forest cover from all three spatial scales. Blocked indicator species analysis, with stream size as the block, showed that significantly strong indicators of the least-impacted riparian land use condition (≥60% forest cover) were Saffron Shiner (Notropis rubricroceus), Rainbow Trout (Oncorhyncus mykiss), Longnose Dace (Rhynichthys cataractae), Creek Chub (Semotilus atromaculatus), and Mottled Sculpin (Cottus bairdi). Traits indicative of the least-impacted sites were the herbivorous trophic guild, mean female age-at-maturity, longevity, rock-gravel spawners, montane geology and pelagic swimmers. Specific conductivity was strongly related to multiple catchment-scale land use variables, and was a strong local-scale influence on fish assemblage structure. Our results show promise for using a relatively common but endemic southern Appalachian fish species, the Saffron Shiner, as an indicator for land-use related impacts to these streams.

Land use structures fish assemblages in reservoirs of the Tennessee River

2015 ◽  
Vol 66 (6) ◽  
pp. 526
Author(s):  
L. E. Miranda ◽  
J. M. Bies ◽  
D. A. Hann
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Fish Assemblage ◽  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Fish Assemblage Structure ◽  
Forested Catchments ◽  
Multivariate Statistical ◽  
Agricultural Catchments ◽  
Tennessee River ◽  
Terrestrial Inputs

Inputs of nutrients, sediments and detritus from catchments can promote selected components of reservoir fish assemblages, while hindering others. However, investigations linking these catchment subsidies to fish assemblages have generally focussed on one or a handful of species. Considering this paucity of community-level awareness, we sought to explore the association between land use and fish assemblage composition in reservoirs. To this end, we compared fish assemblages in reservoirs of two sub-basins of the Tennessee River representing differing intensities of agricultural development, and hypothesised that fish assemblage structure indicated by species percentage composition would differ among reservoirs in the two sub-basins. Using multivariate statistical analysis, we documented inter-basin differences in land use, reservoir productivity and fish assemblages, but no differences in reservoir morphometry or water regime. Basins were separated along a gradient of forested and non-forested catchment land cover, which was directly related to total nitrogen, total phosphorous and chlorophyll-a concentrations. Considering the extensive body of knowledge linking land use to aquatic systems, it is reasonable to postulate a hierarchical model in which productivity has direct links to terrestrial inputs, and fish assemblages have direct links to both land use and productivity. We observed a shift from an invertivore-based fish assemblage in forested catchments to a detritivore-based fish assemblage in agricultural catchments that may be a widespread pattern among reservoirs and other aquatic ecosystems.

Landscape Influences on Stream Habitats and Biological Assemblages

2006 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Species Richness ◽  
Fish Species ◽  
Fish Assemblage ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
General Pattern ◽  
Riparian Buffer ◽  
Physical Habitat ◽  
Lepomis Cyanellus ◽  
Notropis Stramineus

<em>Abstract.</em>—Iowa leads the nation in percentage of land area converted to cropland, with a resulting negative impact on streams. We examined physical habitat, land use, and fish assemblage data from 37 second- to sixth-order stream sites, representing 7 of the 10 ecoregions within Iowa. Physical habitat conditions varied widely among sites, with sand dominating substrate composition. A nonmetric multidimensional scaling ordination of physical habitat variables suggested a pattern of among-site similarities defined by a stream size axis, an axis contrasting sites dominated by either woody or rocky fish cover, and an axis characterizing degree of riparian canopy coverage. Bluntnose minnow <em>Pimephales notatus </em>and sand shiner <em>Notropis stramineus </em>were the most abundant fish species, followed by green sunfish <em>Lepomis cyanellus </em>and common carp <em>Cyprinus carpio</em>. These four species were collected in more than 80% of the sites. Fish species richness at sites averaged 22, ranging from 6 to 38, and fish index of biotic integrity (IBI) at sites averaged 47 (fair), ranging from 21 (poor) to 96 (excellent). Species richness and IBI were highest at sites characterized by rocky fish cover and relatively coarse substrates. Values for several physical habitat and land use variables were significantly different between sites with IBI ≤ 30 (fair) and sites with IBI ≥ 50 (good). We found a general pattern of IBI, species richness, total fish abundance, and width-to-depth ratio decreasing from the northeast to the southwest ecoregions, and percentage of unvegetated banks and bank slope increasing from northeast to southwest. Stable and vegetated banks, wide stream channels with coarse substrates, and rocky fish cover were associated with high biotic condition; while unvegetated and eroding banks, and deep channels with predominantly fine substrates were associated with lower biotic condition. Land use was calculated at three spatial scales: catchment, network riparian buffer, and local riparian buffer. We found few relationships of fish assemblages with land use, potentially due to sampling design and the pervasiveness of agriculture across Iowa. There is substantial variation among physical habitat, land use, and fish assemblage conditions across Iowa, due to a combination of geology, climate, zoogeography, and human alteration.

Landscape Influences on Stream Habitats and Biological Assemblages

2006 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Fish Assemblage ◽  
Human Disturbance ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Land Uses ◽  
Catchment Scale ◽  
Assemblage Composition ◽  
Local Factors

<em>Abstract.</em>—We analyzed data from 287 streams in Wisconsin and northern Michigan to evaluate the relative effects of human disturbance levels on the influence of catchment, network riparian, reach riparian, and instream variables on fish assemblages. The streams were divided into high, medium, and low human disturbance groups based on catchment and network riparian urban and agricultural land uses. We used canonical correspondence analyses to evaluate relations among variables at the four spatial scales and fish assemblage composition, abundance, and presence/absence and to partition the relative importance of spatial scales. Catchment and network riparian land uses were among the dominant variables correlated with fish for high disturbance catchments but not for low disturbance catchments. The variations in fish assemblage composition, abundance, and presence/absence explained by catchment factors were substantially higher for high than for low disturbance catchments, although the variations explained by network riparian factors and reach riparian land uses were similar among disturbance levels. In contrast, the variations in fish variables explained by instream factors and the interaction of the four spatial scale environmental factors were considerably lower for high disturbance than for low disturbance catchments. We concluded that in largely undisturbed catchments, fish assemblages were predominantly influenced by local factors, but as disturbance increased in catchments and riparian areas, the relative importance of local factors declined and that of catchment increased. Hence, instream and riparian habitat improvements would be most effective in catchments that are largely undisturbed and catchment scale land-use management would be more effective for improving stream quality in degraded catchments.

scholarly journals Long-term study of reservoir cascade in south-eastern Brazil reveals spatio-temporal gradient in fish assemblages

2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (12) ◽  
pp. 1983 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raquel Coelho Loures ◽  
Paulo Santos Pompeu
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Fish Species ◽  
Fish Assemblage ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Native Fish ◽  
Fish Diversity ◽  
Fish Assemblage Structure ◽  
Long Term Study

In reservoir cascades, effects on fish assemblages are expected to strengthen over time and transfer from one reservoir to an adjacent one. To test this, fish-assemblage data from 23 years of monitoring in the Araguari reservoir cascade system, upper Paraná River basin, were analysed. The results showed a clear reduction in richness of native and migratory fish species and an increase of non-native species, following reservoir formation. Migratory species richness was higher in reservoirs that presented habitats similar to lotic stretches or tributaries upstream of the impounded area. There was a clear tendency for native species to decline and non-native fish species to increase, in a downstream direction. Fish assemblages became increasingly dissimilar as reservoirs became more distant from each other (longitudinal gradient) and were dominated by small and medium-sized species. Alongside longitudinal position, reservoir area, age and the presence of herbivorous non-native fish were found to be important predictors of variation in fish-assemblage structure. Results from the present study help clarify the potential accumulated impacts of reservoir cascades on fish diversity, which must be carefully considered in river-basin inventories for hydropower plants, and reinforce the importance of long-term monitoring, considering longitudinal and lateral dimensions of the basin.

scholarly journals Influence of environmental variables on stream fish fauna at multiple spatial scales

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nara Tadini Junqueira ◽  
Diego Rodrigues Macedo ◽  
Rafael Couto Rosa de Souza ◽  
Robert Mason Hughes ◽  
Marcos Callisto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Fish Species ◽  
Environmental Variables ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Fish Fauna ◽  
Stream Fish ◽  
Fish Diversity ◽  
Physical Habitat

ABSTRACT Effects of environmental variables at different spatial scales on freshwater fish assemblages are relatively unexplored in Neotropical ecosystems. However, those influences are important for developing management strategies to conserve fish diversity and water resources. We evaluated the influences of site- (in-stream) and catchment-scale (land use and cover) environmental variables on the abundance and occurrence of fish species in streams of the Upper Araguari River basin through use of variance partitioning with partial CCA. We sampled 38 1st to 3rd order stream sites in September 2009. We quantified site variables to calculate 11 physical habitat metrics and mapped catchment land use/cover. Site and catchment variables explained > 50% of the total variation in fish species. Site variables (fish abundance: 25.31%; occurrence: 24.51%) explained slightly more variation in fish species than catchment land use/cover (abundance: 22.69%; occurrence: 18.90%), indicating that factors at both scales are important. Because anthropogenic pressures at site and catchment scales both affect stream fish in the Upper Araguari River basin, both must be considered jointly to apply conservation strategies in an efficient manner.

scholarly journals Contrasting responses of above- and belowground diversity to multiple components of land-use intensity

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaëtane Le Provost ◽  
Jan Thiele ◽  
Catrin Westphal ◽  
Caterina Penone ◽  
Eric Allan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Land Use Intensity ◽  
Trophic Groups ◽  
Multiple Components ◽  
Belowground Diversity ◽  
Landscape Level

AbstractLand-use intensification is a major driver of biodiversity loss. However, understanding how different components of land use drive biodiversity loss requires the investigation of multiple trophic levels across spatial scales. Using data from 150 agricultural grasslands in central Europe, we assess the influence of multiple components of local- and landscape-level land use on more than 4,000 above- and belowground taxa, spanning 20 trophic groups. Plot-level land-use intensity is strongly and negatively associated with aboveground trophic groups, but positively or not associated with belowground trophic groups. Meanwhile, both above- and belowground trophic groups respond to landscape-level land use, but to different drivers: aboveground diversity of grasslands is promoted by diverse surrounding land-cover, while belowground diversity is positively related to a high permanent forest cover in the surrounding landscape. These results highlight a role of landscape-level land use in shaping belowground communities, and suggest that revised agroecosystem management strategies are needed to conserve whole-ecosystem biodiversity.

scholarly journals Effect of land-use types on the ecomorphological structure of fish assemblage in distinct mesohabitats of neotropical streams

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo Antunes Pessoa ◽  
Matheus Tenório Baumgartner ◽  
Marcelo Percilio Santana Junior ◽  
João Paulo Alves Pagotto ◽  
Luiz Gustavo Antunes Pessoa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Urban Environment ◽  
Fish Species ◽  
Fish Assemblage ◽  
Environmental Variables ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Distinct Species ◽  
Urban Streams ◽  
Land Use Types

Abstract The use and occupation of land by human population substantially influence environmental variables and fish assemblage in streams. However, there is little knowledge on how these changes affect the ecomorphological structure of fish assemblage in mesohabitats. Therefore, we aim to assess whether the land-use types affect the ecomorphological structure of fish assemblage in distinct mesohabitats. Environmental and ichthyofaunistic data were collected in three mesohabitats (rifles, runs, and pools) of five rural and five urban streams. Twenty-one ecomorphological indices were obtained from the mean of linear morphological measurements and areas of the fishes. Subsequently, the Euclidean distance was calculated, based on the ecomorphological indices, between each pair of species, to measure the ecomorphological distances for the mesohabitats of the rural and urban streams. The results show that the urban environment is more harmful to streams than the rural one, due to changes in the environmental variables and decrease in species richness. The main environmental changes found in urban streams were the decrease in canopy cover by riparian vegetation and dissolved oxygen, and the increase in electrical conductivity and bed silting. Also, there was a significant decrease in the morphological similarity between fish species in the mesohabitats of urban streams compared to rural ones. Therefore, we can conclude that the urban environment leads to the loss of morphologically similar fish species in the mesohabitats, with only a few functionally distinct species remaining.

Effects of Urbanization on Stream Ecosystems

2005 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Fish Species ◽  
Endemic Species ◽  
Largemouth Bass ◽  
Fish Assemblage ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Habitat Alterations ◽  
Intensity Index ◽  
Specialist Species

<em>Abstract.</em>—We examined fish assemblage responses to urban intensity gradients in two contrasting metropolitan areas: Birmingham, Alabama (BIR) and Boston, Massachusetts (BOS). Urbanization was quantified by using an urban intensity index (UII) that included multiple stream buffers and basin land uses, human population density, and road density variables. We evaluated fish assemblage responses by using species richness metrics and detrended correspondence analyses (DCA). Fish species richness metrics included total fish species richness, and percentages of endemic species richness, alien species, and fluvial specialist species. Fish species richness decreased significantly with increasing urbanization in BIR (<em>r </em>= –0.82, <EM>P </EM>= 0.001) and BOS (<em>r </em>= –0.48, <EM>P </EM>= 0.008). Percentages of endemic species richness decreased significantly with increasing urbanization only in BIR (<em>r </em>= – 0.71, <EM>P </EM>= 0.001), whereas percentages of fluvial specialist species decreased significantly with increasing urbanization only in BOS (<em>r </em>= –0.56, <EM>P </EM>= 0.002). Our DCA results for BIR indicate that highly urbanized fish assemblages are composed primarily of largescale stoneroller <em>Campostoma oligolepis</em>, largemouth bass <em>Micropterus salmoides</em>, and creek chub <em>Semotilus atromaculatus</em>, whereas the highly urbanized fish assemblages in BOS are dominated by yellow perch <em>Perca flavescens</em>, bluegill <em>Lepomis macrochirus</em>, yellow bullhead <em>Ameiurus natalis</em>, largemouth bass, pumpkinseed <em>L. gibbosus</em>, brown bullhead <em>A. nebulosus</em>, and redfin pickerel <em>Esox americanus</em>. Differences in fish assemblage responses to urbanization between the two areas appear to be related to differences in nutrient enrichment, habitat alterations, and invasive species. Because species richness can increase or decrease with increasing urbanization, a general response model is not applicable. Instead, response models based on species’ life histories, behavior, and autecologies offer greater potential for understanding fish assemblage responses to urbanization.

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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