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Effects of Annual Droughts on Fish Communities in Mississippi Sound Estuaries

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Abstract

The Mississippi coastal region has two major rivers and four smaller rivers influencing the estuaries that make up the Mississippi Sound. The islands off Mississippi create a barrier which allows the area to be a widespread, productive estuarine region. With such a dependence on discharge from the drainages, it is important to understand the effect of salinity regimes on fish communities. Drought conditions in other regions have been shown to dramatically change the fish community structure. We used the long running Interjurisdictional Fisheries Program database (2006–2014) within Mississippi state waters and compared yearly fish communities between drought and non-drought years. Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling (nMDS), Analysis of Similarity (ANOSIM), and Indicator Species Analysis (ISA) were used to compare drought and non-drought conditions in the Mississippi Sound. During 2006 and 2007, which were identified as drought years by the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), differences in fish community structure were identified and compared to non-drought years (2008–2009 and 2011–2014). The ISA identified a total of eight species that were significantly influenced by drought years. Of the eight species, the abundance of seven species significantly decreased while the abundance of one species significantly increased. With an increasing human population in central and south Mississippi, pressure on freshwater resources is likely to increase, resulting in possible changes in the fish community dynamics of the Mississippi Sound. Understanding the influence of decreased river discharges will assist managers in determining the impacts of freshwater withdrawals during base flow periods.

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Acknowledgements

This study was made possible by the efforts of the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR) Office of Marine Fisheries staff and faculty and staff from The University of Southern Mississippi’s Center for Fisheries Research and Development (CFRD). Special thanks to Evan John Anderson at the CFRD for providing data and assistance with data queries and to Trevor Moncrief at MDMR for support with data analyses and final edits. This study was supported by funds from the National Marine Fisheries Service Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act. Sampling methods and data collected for use in this manuscript were done in accordance with IACUC protocol (IACUC Permit 16052601).

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  1. Jennifer L. Herbig

    Present address: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, 2976 Overseas Highway Suite 119, Marathon, FL, 33050, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, 1141 Bayview Avenue, Biloxi, MS, 39530, USA

    Paul F. Mickle, Jennifer L. Herbig, Carly R. Somerset, Brittany T. Chudzik & Megan E. Fleming

  2. School of Ocean Science and Technology, The University of Southern Mississippi, 703 East Beach Drive, Ocean Springs, MS, 39564, USA

    Kelly L. Lucas

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Mickle, P.F., Herbig, J.L., Somerset, C.R. et al. Effects of Annual Droughts on Fish Communities in Mississippi Sound Estuaries. Estuaries and Coasts 41, 1475–1485 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-017-0364-5

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