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THE INFLUENCE OF FOREST FRAGMENTATION AND OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS ON LAKE SUPERIOR STREAM FISH ASSEMBLAGE
Citation:
Brazner, J. C., D K. Tanner, V M. Snarski, A R. Batterman, AND N E. Detenbeck. THE INFLUENCE OF FOREST FRAGMENTATION AND OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS ON LAKE SUPERIOR STREAM FISH ASSEMBLAGE. Presented at Annual Meeting of American Fisheries Society, Superior, WI, January 10, 2001.
Description:
As part of a comparative watershed project investigating land cover/land use disturbance gradients for streams in the western Lake Superior region, we wanted to determine the relative influence of hydrogeomorphic region, forest fragmentation, watershed storage, and in-stream habitat on fish assemblage structure and function. GIS characterization of 362 second and 90 third order watersheds for size mature forest cover, area recently logged, and total wetland area allowed us to select 48 second and third order watersheds from two hydrogeomorphic regions to examine fish assemblage response to landscape treatment factors. During the summers of 1997 and 1998, electrofishing gear was used to sample fish from stream reaches along fragmentation and watershed storage gradients in each region. Although a variety of region, fragmentation, and storage related factors had significant influences on fish assemblages, water temperature appeared to the the single most important factor. We found lower temperatures and trout-sculpin assemblages as storage increased. Factors related to riparian shading and flow distinguished brook trout streams (shaded/lower flow) from brown/rainbow trout streams (less shaded/higher flow).