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THE INFLUENCE OF ECOLOGICAL AND ANTHROPOGENIC FACTORS ON PATTERNS IN THE FISH COMMUNITIES OF THE ALBEMARLE-PAMLICO BASIN
Citation:
Baca, R M. THE INFLUENCE OF ECOLOGICAL AND ANTHROPOGENIC FACTORS ON PATTERNS IN THE FISH COMMUNITIES OF THE ALBEMARLE-PAMLICO BASIN. Presented at American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ, August 19-23, 2001.
Impact/Purpose:
This research project sets out to design and conduct an assessment of the long-term ecological consequences of alternative management choices. As the first project to be done at this scale using predictive ecological endpoints, we will seek to identify the appropriate components of such an analysis. We will use experience gained in the conduct of this BASE analysis to identify key research and data needs for address, to estimate timing, resource needs, etc., for future analyses. We will extend this analysis beyond previous and ongoing studies in two ways: by incorporating biological endpoints, primarily properties of fish communities, and by introducing the concept of sustainability of ecological state under future scenarios contrasted with the present state of those same ecological resources. Requirements that are identified during the course of this study will permit the recommendation of specific capabilities that should be incorporated in a general modeling system currently under development to support BASE and other environmental assessments. Finally, the analysis is intended to be of value for establishing environmental management choices that will be beneficial and those that would be detrimental to the sustainability of ecological resources of the Albemarle-Pamlico Basin.
Description:
Data on fish abundance from the EPA, USGS, and states of North Carolina and Virginia were analyzed for patterns in the fish communities of the Albemarle-Pamlico Basin. The basin covers 72,500 square kilometers and five ecoregions in Virginia and North Carolina, including the watersheds of the Chowan, Roanoke, Tar-Pamlico, and Neuse Rivers. Cluster analysis separated fish communities into groups by combinations of river basin and ecoregion. Distinct groups were detected for the Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain independent of river basin, the Tar-Pamlico/Neuse Piedmont and Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain, the Chowan/Roanoke Piedmont, and the Chowan Southeastern Plains. Correspondence analysis was used to find patterns between human land-use and fish community structure within these groups. Data from the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics project was used to describe the impact of humans around fish sample sites. In most cases, the first canonical variate further separated the fish communities along a gradient of low to high human impact, such as from forested/wetland areas to residential/industrial areas. This research is part of a larger initiative at EPA modeling how fish in the basin may respond to changes in land-use patterns by humans over a 50 year period.