<p>Fish communities in agricultural headwater streams are known
to be impacted by a variety of factors, including water chemistry, habitat
modification, and hydrology. Little research has been conducted on how climate
change influences these communities, yet the effects of climate on lake and
river fish have been well documented. I hypothesized that fish community
metrics would be reduced by the effects of climate change. I examined the
effects of climate and hydrology metrics on fish communities at nine sites in
the Saint Joseph River, Indiana and Michigan and at 18 sites in the Upper Big
Walnut Creek, Ohio watersheds, from 2006 to 2019. Air temperature, water
temperature, precipitation, water discharge, width, velocity, and depth metrics
were calculated seasonally for each sampling year. Fish were examined
seasonally with backpack electrofishing and seine netting and identified to
species level. Principal component analyses were used to create axes which
represented gradients of climate and hydrology metrics. Linear mixed effect and
logistic regression modeling suggested that hydrology is a stronger predictor
than climate, but that both influence fish communities. Percent Percidae,
percent herbivore, and percent open substrate spawner were positively
correlated with precipitation and water temperature. Presence herbivore was
negatively correlated with precipitation and positively correlated with water
temperature. My data only somewhat supported the hypothesis that climate would
reduce fish community metrics. Gradients of hydrology were observed to be
stronger predictors than gradients of climate. However, one must acknowledge
relationships between climate and hydrology and the potential for climate to
have indirect effects on fish communities through influences on hydrology. This
study increases understanding of how fish communities in agriculturally
dominated headwater streams are influenced, and emphasizes the need for further
research on how these fishes will be impacted by a changing climate. </p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:purdue.edu/oai:figshare.com:article/14182430 |
| Date | 12 March 2021 |
| Creators | Darren J Shoemaker (10271492) |
| Source Sets | Purdue University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis |
| Rights | CC BY 4.0 |
| Relation | https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/AN_EXAMINATION_OF_RELATIONSHIPS_BETWEEN_CLIMATE_AND_FISH_COMMUNITIES_IN_AGRICULTURAL_HEADWATER_STREAMS/14182430 |
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