Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Role of Salinity in Structuring Fish Assemblages in a Prairie Stream System

  • Primary Research Paper
  • Published:
Hydrobiologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We used fishery surveys from 1954 to 1957 to determine the relationship between salinity and prairie stream-fish assemblage composition prior to the major drought of the 1950s and subsequent anthropogenic modifications. A total of 78,931 fishes were captured, representing 13 families and 44 species. Species were classified as having low, moderate, or high salinity tolerances based on k-means clustering of detrended correspondence scores. The proportion of species with high salinity tolerances was correlated positively (r = 0.74) with salinity, whereas the proportion of species with low (r = −0.69) or moderate (r = −0.36) tolerances was correlated strongly and negatively with salinity. Many of the low or moderate salinity tolerant species found in the 1950s were not collected in studies conducted 15 and 35 years later. Examination of these studies provides compelling evidence that salinity has been a dominant and persistent factor in affecting the structure of stream-fish assemblages for the past 50 years.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • A. A. Anderson C. Hubbs K. O. Winemiller R. J. Edwards (1995) ArticleTitleTexas freshwater fish assemblages following three decades of environmental change Southwestern Naturalist 40 314–321

    Google Scholar 

  • J. A. Baker S. T. Ross (1981) ArticleTitleSpatial and temporal resource utilization by southeastern cyprinids Copeia 1981 178–189

    Google Scholar 

  • T. H. Bonner G. R. Wilde (2000) ArticleTitleChanges in the Canadian River fish assemblage associated with reservoir construction Journal of Freshwater Ecology 15 189–198

    Google Scholar 

  • T. H. Bonner G. R. Wilde (2002) ArticleTitleEffect of turbidity on feeding efficiency of prairie stream fishes: test of a hypothesis Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 131 1203–1208 Occurrence Handle10.1577/1548-8659(2002)131<1203:EOTOPC>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • T. A. Capone J. A. Kushlan (1991) ArticleTitleFish community structure in dry-season stream pools Ecology 72 983–992

    Google Scholar 

  • J. W. Chadwick S. P. Canton D. J. Conklin P. L. Winkle (1997) ArticleTitleFish species composition in the central Platte River, Nebraska Southwestern Naturalist 42 279–289

    Google Scholar 

  • F. B. Cross R. E. Moss (1987) NoChapterTitle W. J. Matthews D. C. Heins (Eds) Historic changes in fish communities and aquatic habitats in plains streams of Kansas University of Oklahoma Press Norman, OK 155–165

    Google Scholar 

  • B. Davies J. Day (1998) Vanishing Waters University of Cape Town Press Cape Town

    Google Scholar 

  • M. E. Douglas P. C. Marsh W. L. Minckley (1994) ArticleTitleIndigenous fishes of western North America and the hypothesis of competitive displacement: Meda fulgida (Cyprinidae) as a case study Copeia 1994 9–19

    Google Scholar 

  • A. A. Echelle A. F. Echelle L. G. Hill (1972) ArticleTitleInterspecific interactions and limiting factors of abundance and distribution in the Red River pupfish, Cyprinodon rubrofluviatilis American Midland Naturalist 88 109–130

    Google Scholar 

  • K. D. Fausch R. G. Bramblett (1991) ArticleTitleDisturbance and fish communities in intermittent tributaries of a western Great Plains river Copeia 1991 659–674

    Google Scholar 

  • S. G. Fisher L. J. Gray N. B. Grimm D. E. Busch (1982) ArticleTitleTemporal succession in a desert stream ecosystem following flash flooding Ecological Monographs 52 93–110

    Google Scholar 

  • J. F. Gilliam D. F. Fraser (2001) ArticleTitleMovement in corridors: enhancement by predation threat, disturbance, and habitat structure Ecology 82 258–273

    Google Scholar 

  • O. T. Gorman J. R. Karr (1978) ArticleTitleHabitat structure and stream fish communities Ecology 59 507–515

    Google Scholar 

  • G. D. Grossman M. C. Freeman (1987) ArticleTitleMicrohabitat use in a stream fish assemblage Journal of Zoology 212 151–176

    Google Scholar 

  • M. O. Hill H. G. Gauch (1980) ArticleTitleDetrended correspondence analysis, an improved ordination technique Vegetatio 42 47–58 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00048870

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • C. Hubbs E. Marsh-Matthews W. J. A. A. Matthews Anderson (1997) ArticleTitleChanges in fish assemblages in east Texas streams from 1953 to 1986 Texas Journal of Science 49 67–84

    Google Scholar 

  • D. A. Jackson K. M. Somers H. H. Harvey (1992) ArticleTitleNull models and fish communities: evidence of nonrandom patterns American Naturalist 139 930–951 Occurrence Handle10.1086/285367

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • P. Legendre L. Legendre (1998) Numerical Ecology Elsevier Science Amsterdam

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, L. D., 1957a. Basic survey and inventory of species present, as well as their distribution in the Pease River, its tributaries and watershed within Wilbarger, Foard, Cottle, Motley, Floyd, and Brisco Counties, Texas. Federal Aid project Completion Report F-7-R-4, B-10

  • Lewis, L. D., 1957b. Basic survey and inventory of species present, as well as their distribution in the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River, its tributaries and watershed within Childress, Hall, Brisco, Armstrong, Randall, and Deaf Smith counties, Texas. Federal Aid Project Completion Report F-7-R-4, B-11

  • Lewis, L. D., 1957c. Basic survey and inventory of species present, as well as their distribution in the Salt Fork of the Red River, its tributaries and watershed, lying within Collingsworth, Donley, and Armstrong Counties, Texas. Federal Aid Project Completion Report F-7-R-4, B-12

  • Lewis, L. D. & W. W. Dalquest, 1957a. A basic survey and inventory of species in the Little Wichita River in North-central Texas, lying in the counties of Baylor, Archer, and Clay. Federal Aid Project Completion Report F-7-R-3, A-3 and B-8

  • Lewis, L. D. & W. W. Dalquest, 1957b. A fisheries survey of the Big Wichita River system and its impoundments. IF Report Series, No. 2

  • E. Marsh-Matthews W. J. Matthews (2000) ArticleTitleSpatial variation in relative abundance of a widespread, numerically dominant fish species and its effect on fish assemblage structure Oecologia 125 283–292 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s004420000452

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • W. J. Matthews (1998) Patterns in Freshwater Fish Ecology Kluwer Academic Publishers Norwell, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • W. L. Minckley G. K. Meffe (1987) NoChapterTitle W. J. Matthews D. C. Heins (Eds) Differential selection by flooding in stream fish communities of the arid American southwest University of Oklahoma Press Norman, OK 93–104

    Google Scholar 

  • K. G. Ostrand G. R. Wilde (2001) ArticleTitleTemperature, dissolved oxygen, and salinity tolerances of five prairie stream fishes and their role in explaining assemblage patterns Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 130 742–749 Occurrence Handle10.1577/1548-8659(2001)130<0742:TDOAST>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • K. G. Ostrand G. R. Wilde (2002) ArticleTitleSeasonal and spatial variation in a prairie stream-fish assemblage Ecology of Freshwater Fish 11 137–139 Occurrence Handle10.1034/j.1600-0633.2002.00005.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • M. W. Palmer (2002) ArticleTitlePutting things in even better order: the advantages of canonical correspondence analysis Ecology 74 2215–2230

    Google Scholar 

  • N. L. Poff J. D. Allan (1995) ArticleTitleFunctional organization of stream fish assemblages in relation to hydrological variability Ecology 76 606–627

    Google Scholar 

  • J. B. Smith W. A. Hubert (1989) ArticleTitleUse of a tributary by fishes in a Great Plains river system Prairie Naturalist 21 27–38

    Google Scholar 

  • C. M. Taylor M. R. Winston W. J. Matthews (1993) ArticleTitleFish species-environment and abundance relationships in a Great Plains river system Ecography 16 16–23

    Google Scholar 

  • C. J. F. Ter Braak (1986) ArticleTitleCanonical correspondence analysis: a new eigenvector technique for multivariate direct gradient analysis Ecology 67 1167–1179

    Google Scholar 

  • E. E. Werner D. J. Hall (1976) ArticleTitleNiche shifts in sunfishes: experimental evidence and significance Science 191 404–406 Occurrence Handle1246626

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • W. D. Williams (1987) ArticleTitleSalinization of rivers and streams: an important environmental hazard Ambio 16 180–185

    Google Scholar 

  • W. D. Williams (2001) ArticleTitleAnthropogenic salinisation of inland waters Hydrobiologia 466 329–337 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1014598509028

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • T. V. Willis J. J. Magnuson (2000) ArticleTitlePatterns in fish species composition across the interface between streams and lakes Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 57 1042–1052 Occurrence Handle10.1139/cjfas-57-5-1042

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • C. A. Woodhouse J. T. Overpeck (1998) ArticleTitle2000 years of drought variability in the central United States Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 79 2693–2714 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0477(1998)079<2693:YODVIT>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Mailstop 3131, 79409-3131, Lubbock, Texas, USA

    Christopher L. Higgins

  2. Wildlife and Fisheries Management Institute, Texas Tech University, Mailstop 2125, 79409-2125, Lubbock, Texas, USA

    Gene R. Wilde

Authors
  1. Christopher L. Higgins
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gene R. Wilde
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christopher L. Higgins.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Higgins, C.L., Wilde, G.R. The Role of Salinity in Structuring Fish Assemblages in a Prairie Stream System. Hydrobiologia 549, 197–203 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-005-0844-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-005-0844-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation