INFLUENCE OF A COMMON STREAM RESTORATION PRACTICE ON FISH COMMUNITY STRUCTURE AND DIETS Sophia M. Bonjour, Heidi M. Rantala, Micah G. Bennett, and Matt R. Whiles Department of Zoology and Center for Ecology, Southern Illinois University
Degradation & Restortion Land use change Agriculture & urbanization Increased degradation of rivers (Gleick, 2003) Irrigation, energy, transportation, recreation Interest in ecological & environmental impacts of restoration (Palmer et al. 2005) O Donnell and Galat, 2007
Cache River Watershed Demissie et al. 2010
Upper Cache River Photo: Kelly Fritz
Construction of Rock Weirs stabilize stream channel Photo: Scot Peterson
Constructed Riffle dissolved oxygen & stable substrate
Previous Research Walther and Whiles, 2008 Macroinvertebrate Biomass EPT Biomass 2500 1600 mg AFDM m -2 2000 1500 1000 500 mg AFDM m -2 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0 Old weir New weir Snags Streambed 0 Old weir New weir Snags Streambed Habitat: F [3,20] = 1.9, p = 0.17 Habitat date: F [9,20] = 4.0, p = 0.005 Habitat: F [3,20] = 50.2, p < 0.0001 Habitat date: F [9,20] = 3.6, p = 0.008
In-stream restoration Increased habitat heterogeneity Enhanced aquatic insect diversity & production Difference in fish community structure Difference in diets between weir and non-weir fishes
Methods June 2013 4 Weir, 4 Non-weir, ~100 meters Hand nets, seines, and backpack electrofishing Stomach lavage or dissection Biomass of invertebrates from guts was estimated (Benke et al. 1999) ANOVA, MDS, ANOSIM, SIMPER, student s t-test, Chesson selectivity, Wilcoxon Sign test, and Fisher s Exact test
Fish Diversity Number of fish species Weir Non-weir * Indicates significant difference
Fish Communities Weir Non-Weir p=0.05 2D Stress: 0.06 Cottus carolinae Cyprinella whipplei Fundulus olivaceus Percina sciera
Gut Biomass * Average Gut Biomass (mg AFDM) Weir Non-weir * Indicates significant difference
Relative Abundance of Prey- Habitat Relative Abundance * * * * * * EPT Chironomidae Oligochaeta Weir Non-weir Drift
Relative Abundance of Prey- Guts Relative Abundance * * Weir * Non-weir * * Terrestrial Zooplankton Other Non-insect Other Insect Chironomidae EPT * General Invertivore- EPT Chironomidae Benthic Invertivore- Malacostraca Benthic Invert General Invert Macrocarnivore Detritivore Benthic Invert General Invert Macrocarnivore Surface feeder Macrocarnivore- Other Insect
Selectivity- Weirs Chesson, 1978 Alpha by Guild Benthic Invertivore General Invertivore Macrocarnivore Detritivore Chironomidae 0.07 0.20 0.00 0.19 EPT 0.73 0.38 0.00 0.25 Other Insect 0.17 0.33 0.00 0.06 Malacostraca 0.01 0.02 0.50 0.00 Oligochaete 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Other Invertebrate 0.00 0.00 0.16 0.00 Zooplankton 0.00 0.01 0.17 0.25 Terrestrial 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Selectivity- Non-weirs Alpha by Guild Baetidae Heptageniidae Chimarra Caenis Chesson, 1978 Benthic Invertivore General Invertivore Macrocarnivore Surface feeder Chironomidae 0.02 0.51 0.00 0.07 EPT 0.87 0.21 0.27 0.03 Other Insect 0.00 0.16 0.43 0.55 Malacostraca 0.11 0.03 0.23 0.00 Oligochaete 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Other Invertebrate 0.00 0.03 0.01 0.00 Zooplankton 0.00 0.06 0.05 0.00 Terrestrial 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.27
In-stream restoration Increased habitat heterogeneity Enhanced aquatic insect diversity & production Difference in fish community structure Difference in diets Between weir and non-weir fishes Weirs: higher fish diversity Different communities increase overall diversity at larger scale Weir: more diverse diets and higher prey biomass Selection for EPT taxa
Cache River Restoration Heinrich et al. 2013 Weirs increase diversity and production of emergent insects Bird richness and diversity higher at weir sites Bird density increased at and near weirs Current work Bats EPT taxa emergence production F=9.4, P=0.006
Implications >$1 billion annually (Bernhardt et al. 2005) Most restoration projects not ecologically evaluated Link between geomorphological changes & ecosystem functions Step to better understand, justify, & modify restoration
Acknowledgements Illinois Department of Natural Resources; Jody Shimp Tracy Fidler Nature Conservancy of Illinois Big Creek Drainage District #2 Society for Freshwater Science s Student Resource Committee and Endowment Committee SIU Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Undergraduate Research Assistantship Program SIU Center for Ecology Freshwater Ecology Lab at SIU Karen Baumann, Alicia Beattie, Kelley Fritz, Jessica Fulgoni, Jon Meats, Ricky Nesslar