Intra-reach Headwater Fish Assemblage Structure
James E. McKenna*
US Geological Survey, Great Lakes Science Center, Tunison Laboratory of Aquatic Science, 3075 Gracie Road, Cortland, NY 13045, USA
Abstract
Large-scale conservation efforts can take advantage of modern large databases and regional modeling and assessment methods. However, these broad-scale efforts often assume uniform average habitat conditions and/or species assemblages within stream reaches.
Objective:
I examined fish species assemblage structure within two forested headwater stream reaches of the Great Lakes drainage to evaluate the validity of within stream uniformity.
Results:
Sample assemblages within stream reaches were not distinct, except for where habitat changed sharply from forest to wetland.
Conclusion:
The results support the general assumption that fish assemblages are uniform within stream reaches, for the purposes of coarse scale analyses, but more research is needed to test the consistency of these finding across all headwater streams of a watershed or region.
Keywords: Fish assemblages, Freshwater streams, Fine-scale structure, Aquatic habitat, Lotic headwaters, Land cover change.
Article Information
Article History:
Received Date: 06/10/2016
Revision Received Date: 02/12/2016
Acceptance Date: 10/12/2016
Electronic publication date: 25/01/2017
Collection year: 2017
© James E. McKenna; Licensee Bentham Open
open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 International Public License (CC BY-NC 4.0) (
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/legalcode), which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
* Address correspondence to this author at US Geological Survey, Great Lakes Science Center, Tunison Laboratory of Aquatic Science, 3075 Gracie Road, Cortland, NY 13045, USA; Tel: 607-753-9391 x7521; Fax: 607-753-0259; E-mail: jemckenna@usgs.gov
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Manuscript submitted on 06-10-2016 |
Original Manuscript |
Intra-reach Headwater Fish Assemblage Structure |