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FISH ASSEMBLAGES AS INDICATORS OF LAKE SUPERIOR COASTAL WETLAND CONDITION
Citation:
Brazner, J. C., D K. Tanner, AND S L. Batterman. FISH ASSEMBLAGES AS INDICATORS OF LAKE SUPERIOR COASTAL WETLAND CONDITION. Presented at International Association for Great Lakes Research Meeting, Chicago, IL, June 26-29, 2003.
Description:
Fish assemblages associated with coastal wetlands in Lake Superior are poorly described. Understanding the environmental factors structuring the biota in these habitats is essential to developing robust indicators of their condition. To identify key environmental influences structuring biota and begin developing indicators of condition for these ecosystems, we sampled fish assemblages, and water, sediment and habitat quality at 10 western Lake Superior coastal wetlands in May, July, and September, 2000. These wetlands represented three hydrogeomorphic classes (estuary, lagoon, and riverine) and spanned a gradient of land-uses within their watersheds. A total of 34,606 fish comprised of 46 different species were captured. Assemblage structure in the spring was different than in summer and fall, highlighting the importance of the timing of sampling. Wetland hydrogeomorphology significantly influenced the number, diversity and dominance of the fishes suggesting indicators will have to be developed by wetland type. Ordinations suggest that proportion of mature forest and agriculture in watersheds along with sediment organic matter, dissolved nutrients, water temperature, and number of macrophyte species were among the most important environmental factors structuring our assemblages. This abstract does not reflect U.S.EPA policy.