thumbnail

Factors influencing stream fish recovery following a large-scale disturbance

Transactions of the American Fisheries Society
By: , and 

Links

  • The Publications Warehouse does not have links to digital versions of this publication at this time
  • Download citation as: RIS | Dublin Core

Abstract

We examined fish distribution and abundance in erosional habitat units in South Fork Roanoke River, Virginia, following a fish kill by using a reachwide sampling approach for 3 species and a representative-reach sampling approach for 10 species. Qualitative (presence-absence)and quantitative (relative abundance) estimates of distribution and abundance provided consistent measures of fish recovery for 2 of 3 species at the reachwide scale and 8 of 10 species at the representative-reach scale. Combining results across scales and estimator types showed that distributions and abundances of 5 of 11 species in the reach affected by the kill were similar to those observed in unaffected upstream and downstream reaches 8-11 months following the perturbation. Differences in distribution and abundance between the affected reach and unaffected reaches indicate that 4 of 11 species had not fully recovered during the same time period; results were equivocal for 2 other species. We attribute differences in recovery rates between these two groups to differences in parental investment in offspring. Species exhibiting rapid recovery either engage in extensive spawning site preparation or guard the spawning site following egg deposition and fertilization; species that had not recovered in the year following the kill show limited spawning site preparation and do not guard the spawning site.
Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Factors influencing stream fish recovery following a large-scale disturbance
Series title Transactions of the American Fisheries Society
Volume 126
Issue 6
Year Published 1997
Language English
Larger Work Type Article
Larger Work Subtype Journal Article
Larger Work Title Transactions of the American Fisheries Society
First page 895
Last page 907
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
Additional publication details