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Habitat Use by Nekton along a Stream-Order Gradient in a Louisiana Estuary

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Abstract

We examined patterns of habitat use by fishes and decapod crustaceans in a seemingly pristine tidal stream system that drains into southeastern coastal Louisiana, northern Gulf of Mexico. The study area centered on a relatively unaltered mesohaline saltmarsh nested within more heavily degraded conditions. Monthly sampling (February–November 2004) stratified along a stream-order gradient examined changes in nekton abundance, species richness, and community structure. Analyses were based on a microhabitat approach used to characterize nekton responses to spatial gradients of water depth, temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity, turbidity, bottom slope, stream width, and distance to mouth. Thirty taxa were identified from 3,757 individuals collected in 82 seine samples. Seven fishes and three decapods constituted >95% of the community structure. Analyses detected the effects of stream order on fish community structure and associated environmental variables. Spatial differences of environmental variables across stream order were attributed to the geomorphology and hydrology of the study area. A factor analysis resolved eight environmental variables into four orthogonal axes that explained 80% of environmental variation. We interpreted factor 1 as a stream-order axis, factor 2 as a morphological axis, factor 3 as a seasonal axis, and factor 4 as a salinity axis. Differences in use of four-dimensional factor space by dominant species reflected habitat selection and species residency status.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the NOAA Coastal Ocean Program MULTISTRESS Award No. NA16OP2670 to Louisiana State University. We are grateful to A. Baumgarten, G. Duque, and F. Martínez for field assistance. We also appreciate comments by R. E. Turner, J. P. Geaghan, L. J. Rouse, T. S. Switzer, and three anonymous reviewers. We finally acknowledge a scholarship to P. G. D. from the WWF Russell E. Train Education for the Nature Program.

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  1. Pablo Granados-Dieseldorff

    Present address: Department of Geography, Texas A&M University, 810 Eller O&M Bldg. MS 3147, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

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  1. Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA

    Pablo Granados-Dieseldorff & Donald M. Baltz

  2. Coastal Fisheries Institute, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA

    Donald M. Baltz

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Granados-Dieseldorff, P., Baltz, D.M. Habitat Use by Nekton along a Stream-Order Gradient in a Louisiana Estuary. Estuaries and Coasts 31, 572–583 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-008-9051-x

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