Effects of Management Legacies on Stream Fish and

Authors: Michael C Quist Randall D Schultz

Publish Date: 2014/07/01

Volume: 54, Issue: 3, Pages: 449-464

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Abstract

Fish and benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages often provide insight on ecological conditions for guiding management actions Unfortunately land use and management legacies can constrain the structure of biotic communities such that they fail to reflect habitat quality The purpose of this study was to describe patterns in fish and benthic macroinvertebrate assemblage structure and evaluate relationships between biota and habitat characteristics in the Chariton River system of southcentral Iowa a system likely influenced by various potential management legacies eg dams chemical removal of fishes We sampled fishes benthic macroinvertebrates and physical habitat from a total of 38 stream reaches in the Chariton River watershed during 2002–2005 Fish and benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages were dominated by generalist species tolerant of poor habitat quality assemblages failed to show any apparent patterns with regard to stream size or longitudinal location within the watershed Metrics used to summarize fish assemblages and populations eg presence–absence relative abundance Index of Biotic Integrity for fish IBIF were not related to habitat characteristics except that catch rates of piscivores were positively related to the depth and the amount of large wood In contrast family richness of benthic macroinvertebrates richness of Ephemeroptera Trichoptera and Plecoptera taxa and IBI values for benthic macroinvertebrates IBIBM were positively correlated with the amount of overhanging vegetation and inversely related to the percentage of fine substrate A long history of habitat alteration by rowcrop agriculture and management legacies associated with reservoir construction has likely resulted in a fish assemblage dominated by tolerant species Intolerant and sensitive fish species have not recolonized streams due to downstream movement barriers ie dams In contrast aquatic insect assemblages reflected aquatic habitat particularly the amount of overhanging vegetation and fine sediment This research illustrates the importance of using multiple taxa for biological assessments and the need to consider management legacies when investigating responses to management and conservation actionsWe thank B Dodd for assistance with data collection We thank A Roy J Walrath and three anonymous reviewers for providing helpful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript Funding for this project was provided through Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration The Idaho Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit is jointly sponsored by the University of Idaho US Geological Survey Idaho Department of Fish and Game and Wildlife Management Institute The use of trade firm or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the US Government

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