Synopsis
The composition and consistency of fish assemblages in 14 adjacent pools (6–120 m long) of a clear-water, limestone and gravel creek in midwestern U.S.A. were quantified in eight snorkeling surveys over 19 months, to establish a baseline of natural variation in the system at this scale. The fauna of the stream was dominated numerically by minnows (Cyprinidae), sunfish and black bass (Centrarchidae), and topminnows (Fundulidae). The pool fish fauna of the total 1 km reach (including all 14 pools) was highly consistent throughout the study, despite two major floods. Assemblages in individual pools generally were consistent, but there was more variation within pools than at the scale of the entire reach. Throughout the study, most individual pools remained within discrete subsets of the total occupied multivariate space in a principal components analysis based on fish species abundances. Sunfishes (Lepomis spp.) and bass (Micropterus spp.) were more consistent in their distribution among pools than were minnows (Cyprinidae) or a topminnow (Fundulus). There were 25 significant correlations in occurrence of species pairs among stream pools, out of 91 possible comparisons of the 14 most abundant taxa in the reach. Many pools contained assemblages either dominated by large centrarchids or by abundant cyprinids and juvenile centrarchids, but intermediate assemblages also were observed. The dynamics of distribution of fish species and fish assemblages among individual stream pools are likely influenced by a combination of species-specific behaviors and habitat selection, predator constraints on use of individual pools by small fishes, riffles as size-selective barriers to fish movements between pools, dispersal of young-of-the-year fishes, and abiotic phenomena like floods. Individual stream pools appear to be discrete habitat units for fishes, and do represent an appropriate scale for biologically meaningful studies of fish assemblages or their effects on streams.
Similar content being viewed by others
References cited
Bart, H.L., Jr. 1989. Fish habitat association in an Ozark stream. Env. Biol. Fish. 24: 173–186.
Berra, T.M. & G.E. Gunning. 1972. Seasonal movement and home range of the longear sunfish,Lepomis megalotis (Rafinesque) in Louisiana. Amer. Midl. Nat. 88: 368–375.
Cooper, S.D. 1984. The effects of trout on water striders in stream pools. Oecologia 61: 376–379.
Finger, T.R. 1982. Fish community-habitat relations in a central New York stream. Journal of Freshwater Ecology 1: 345–352.
Fraser, D.F. & T.E. Sise. 1980. Observations of stream minnows in a patchy environment: a test of a theory of habitat distribution. Ecology 61: 790–797.
Fraser, D.F., D.A. DiMattia & J.D. Duncan. 1987. Living among predators: the response of a stream minnow to the hazard of predation. pp. 121–127.In: W.J. Matthews & D.C. Heins (eds) Community and Evolutionary Ecology of North American Stream Fishes, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
Fretwell, S.D. 1972. Populations in a seasonal enviroment. Princeton University Press, Princeton. 217 pp.
Gauch, H.G., Jr. 1982. Multivariate analysis in community ecology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 298 pp.
Gelwick, F.P. & W.J. Matthews. 1992. Effects of an algivorous minnow on temperate stream ecosystem properties. Ecology 73: 1630–1645.
Gerking, S.D. 1959. The restricted movements of fish populations. Biol. Rev. 34: 221–242.
Gilliam, J.F. & D.F. Fraser. 1987. Habitat selection under predation hazard: test of a model with foraging minnows. Ecology 68: 1856–1862.
Goldstein, R.M. 1978. Quantitative comparison of seining and underwater observation for stream fishery surveys. Prog. Fish Cult. 40: 108–111.
Gorman, O.T. & J.R. Karr. 1978. Habitat structure and stream fish communities. Ecology 59: 507–515.
Grossman, G.D., J.F. Dowd & M. Crawford. 1990. Assemblage stability in stream fishes: a review. Environ. Manag. 14: 661–671.
Grossman, G.D., P.B. Moyle & J.O. Whitaker, Jr. 1982. Stochasticity in structural and functional characteristics of an Indiana stream fish assemblage: a test of community theory. Amer. Nat. 120: 423–454.
Harrell, H.L. 1978. Response of the Devil's River fish community to flooding. Copeia 1978: 60–68.
Harvey, B.C. 1991. Interactions among stream fishes: predatorinduced habitat shifts and larval survival. Oecologia 87: 29–36.
Harvey, B.C., R.C. Cashner & W.J. Matthews. 1988. Differential effects of largemouth and smallmouth bass on habitat use by stoneroller minnows in stream pools. J. Fish Biol. 33: 481–487.
Hemphill, N. & S.D. Cooper. 1984. Differences in the community structure of stream pools containing or lacking trout. Verh. intern. Ver. theor. ang. Limnol. 22: 1858–1861.
Huang, C. & A. Sih. 1990. Experimental studies on behaviorally mediated, indirect interactions through a shared predator. Ecology 71: 1515–1522.
Linton, L.R., R.W. Davies & F.J. Wrona. 1981. Resource utilization indices: an assessment. J. Anim. Ecol. 50: 283–292.
Matthews, W.J. 1986. Fish faunal structure in an Ozark stream: stability, persistance, and a catastrophic flood. Copeia 1986: 388–397.
Matthews, W.J. 1987. Physicochemical tolerance and selectivity of stream fishes as related to their geographic ranges and local distributions. pp. 111–120.In: W.J. Matthews & D.C. Heins (eds) Community and Evolutionary Ecology of North American Stream Fishes, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
Matthews, W.J. 1990. Fish community structure and stability in warmwater midwestern streams. pp. 16–17.In: M.D. Bain (ed.) Ecology and Assessment of Warmwater Streams: Workshop Synopsis, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Biological Report 90.
Matthews, W.J., R.C. Cashner & F.P. Gelwick. 1988. Stability and persistence of fish faunas and assemblages in three midwestern streams. Copeia 1988: 945–955.
Matthews, W.J. & L.G. Hill. 1980. Habitat partitioning in the fish community of a southwestern river. Southwest. Nat. 25: 51–66.
Matthews, W.J., A.J. Stewart & M.E. Power. 1987. Grazing fishes as components of North American stream ecosystems: effects ofCampostoma anomalum. pp. 128–135.In: W.J. Matthews & D.C. Heins (eds) Community and Evolutionary Ecology of North American Stream Fishes, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
Matthews, W.J., R.C. Cashner & F.P. Gelwick. 1988. Stability and persistence of fish faunas and assemblages in three midwestern streams. Copeia 1988: 947–957.
Meador, M.R. & W.J. Matthews. 1992. Spatial and temporal patterns in fish assemblage structure of an intermittent Texas stream. Amer. Midl. Nat. 127: 106–114.
Meffe, G.K. & A.L. Sheldon. 1988. The influence of habitat structure on fish assemblage composition in southeastern blackwater streams. Amer. Midl. Nat. 120: 225–240.
Meffe, G.K. & A.L. Sheldon. 1990. Post-defaunation recovery of fish assemblages in southeastern blackwater streams. Ecology 71: 657–667.
Moyle, P.B. & B. Vondracek. 1985. Persistence and structure of the fish assemblage in a small California stream. Ecology 66: 1–13.
Ogden, J.C. & J.P. Ebersole. 1981. Scale and community structure of coral reef fishes: a long-term study of a large artificial reef. Mar. Ecol. Progress Series 4: 97–103.
Petranka, J.W., 1983. Fish predation: a factor affecting the spatial distribution of a stream-breeding salamander. Copeia 1983: 624–628.
Polis, G.A. 1984. Age structure component of niche width and intraspecific resource partitioning: can age groups function as ecological species? Amer. Nat. 123: 541–564.
Power, M.E. 1984a. Depth distributions of armored catfish: predator-induced resource avoidance? Ecology 65: 523–528.
Power, M.E. 1984b. Habitat quality and the distribution of algaegrazing catfish in a Panamanian stream. J. Anim. Ecol. 53: 357–374.
Power, M.E. & A.J. Stewart. 1987. Disturbance and recovery of an algal assemblage following flooding in an Oklahoma stream. Amer. Midl. Natur. 117: 333–345.
Power, M.E. & W.J. Matthews. 1983. Algae-grazing minnows (Campostoma anomalum), piscivorous bass (Micropterus spp.) and the distribution of attached algae in a small prairiemargin stream. Oecologia 60: 328–332.
Power, M.E., W.J. Matthews & A.J. Stewart. 1985. Grazing minnows, piscivorous bass, and stream algae: dynamics of a strong interaction. Ecology 66: 1448–1456.
Ross, S.T., W.J. Matthews & A.A. Echelle. 1985. Persistence of stream fish assemblages: effects of environmental change. Amer. Nat. 126: 24–40.
Schlosser, I.J. 1987. A conceptual framework for fish communities in small warmwater streams. pp. 17–24.In: W.J. Matthews & D.C. Heins (eds) Community and Evolutionary Ecology of North American Stream Fishes, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
Schlosser, I.J. & K.K. Ebel. 1989. Effects of flow regime and cyprinid predation on a headwater stream. Ecol. Monogr. 59: 41–57.
Smith, C.L. & C.R. Powell. 1971. The summer fish communities of Brier Creek, Marshall County, Oklahoma. Amer. Mus. Nov. 2458.
Smith, C.L. & T.M. Zaret. 1982. Bias in estimating niche overlap. Ecology 63: 1248–1253.
Sneath, P.H.A. & R.R. Sokal. 1973. Numerical taxonomy — the principles and practice of numerical classification. W.H. Freeman, San Francisco. 573 pp.
Werner, E.E. 1977. Species packing and niche complementarity in three sunfishes. Amer. Nat. 111: 553–578.
Werner, E.E., G.G. Mittlebach, D.J. Hall & G.F. Gilliam. 1983. An experimental test of the effects of predation risk on habitat use in fish. Ecology 64: 1540–1548.
Williams, S.L. & M.H. Ruckelshaus. 1993. Effects of nitrogen availability and herbivory on eelgrass (Zostera marina and epiphytes. Ecology 74: 904–918.
Wolda, H. 1981. Similarity indices, sample size and diversity. Oecologia 50: 296–302.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Department of Zoology, University of Oklahoma
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Matthews, W.J., Harvey, B.C. & Power, M.E. Spatial and temporal patterns in the fish assemblages of individual pools in a midwestern stream (U.S.A.). Environ Biol Fish 39, 381–397 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00004807
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00004807