Fish assemblages of the upper Little Sioux River basin, Iowa, USA: Relationships with stream size and comparison with historical assemblages

Journal of Freshwater Ecology
By: , and 

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Abstract

We characterized the fish assemblages in second to fifth order streams of the upper Little Sioux River basin in northwest Iowa, USA and compared our results with historical surveys. The fish assemblage consisted of over twenty species, was dominated numerically by creek chub, sand shiner, central stoneroller and other cyprinids, and was dominated in biomass by common carp. Most of the species and the great majority of all individuals present were at least moderately tolerant to environmental degradation, and biotic integrity at most sites was characterized as fair. Biotic integrity declined with increasing stream size, and degraded habitat in larger streams is a possible cause. No significant changes in species richness or the relative distribution of species' tolerance appear to have occurred since the 1930s.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Fish assemblages of the upper Little Sioux River basin, Iowa, USA: Relationships with stream size and comparison with historical assemblages
Series title Journal of Freshwater Ecology
DOI 10.1080/02705060.2007.9664147
Volume 22
Issue 1
Year Published 2007
Language English
Publisher Taylor & Francis Online
Contributing office(s) Iowa Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
Description 11 p.
First page 69
Last page 79
Country United States
State Iowa
Other Geospatial Little Sioux River basin
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