Abstract
Fish assemblages’ interrelation to habitat complexity, structure, and disturbance was studied within the Lake James Watershed. Under stable conditions, increased habitat variability typically promotes fish species diversity. However, disturbance can also play a role in both promoting and limiting fish diversity. Nineteen sites were sampled within small to mid-sized streams to test these hypotheses. Results indicated that habitat variability and disturbance played no role in species diversity. However, certain environmental variables, especially temperature, proved to play important roles in determining presence and absence of certain species like the Salmonids. These trends appeared to show environmental gradients across sites, representing habitat variables and fish species of headwater and downstream portions of streams.
How to Cite
Slater, H., (2019) “Fish Community Structure in Relation to Habitat and Disturbance in the Lake James Watershed”, Capstone, The UNC Asheville Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship 32(2).
4
Views
3
Downloads