David R. Edds

Effects of Lowhead Dams on Riffle-Dwelling Fishes and Macroinvertebrates in a Midwestern River

Abstract Many studies have assessed the effects of large dams on fishes and macroinvertebrates, but few have examined the effects of lowhead dams. We sampled fishes, macroinvertebrates, habitat, and physicochemistry monthly from November 2000 to October 2001 at eight gravel bar sites centered around two lowhead dams on the Neosho River, Kansas. Sites included a reference site and a treatment site both upstream and downstream from each dam. Multivariate analysis of variance indicated that habitat, but not physicochemistry, varied immediately upstream and downstream from the dams, with resultant effects on macroinvertebrate and fish assemblages. Compared with reference sites, upstream treatment sites were deeper and had lower velocities and downstream treatment sites were shallower and had higher velocities; both upstream and downstream treatment sites had greater substrate compaction than reference sites. Macroinvertebrate richness did not differ among site types, but abundance was lowest at downstream tre...

Fish Assemblage Structure and Environmental Correlates in Nepal's Gandaki River

This study investigates spatial and temporal patterns of fish assemblage composition in Nepals Gandaki River, which exhibits extremes of altitude and environmental conditions. Samples (n = 156) were made at 81 sites from the rivers headwaters at 3100 m altitude north of the Himalaya Mountains to its lowland mainstream 50 m above sea level on the subtropical Gangetic Plain. Fourteen sites were sampled every season for two years. The ichthyofauna consisted mainly of cypriniforms and siluriforms and also included cyprinodontiforms and perciforms. Detrended canonical correspondence analysis indicated that geography, water quality, and stream hydraulics were the principal physiochemical correlates of fish assemblage structure. Monsoon rains and associated parameters had substantial secondary influence, and vegetation composition and abundance were also significant. The fish fauna showed longitudinal replacement and addition of species, as the number of species increased from one in the headwaters to a maximum of 33 in lowland sites.

Spatiotemporal Patterns of Fish Assemblage Structure in a River Impounded by Low-Head Dams

Abstract We studied spatiotemporal patterns of fish assemblage structure in the Neosho River, Kansas, a system impounded by low-head dams. Spatial variation in the fish assemblage was related to the location of dams that created alternating lotic and lentic stream reaches with differing fish assemblages. At upstream sites close to dams, assemblages were characterized by species associated with deeper, slower-flowing habitat. Assemblages at sites immediately downstream from dams had higher abundance of species common to shallow, swift-flowing habitat. Temporal variation in assemblage structure was stronger than spatial variation, and was associated with fish life history events such as spawning and recruitment, as well as seasonal changes in environmental conditions. Our results suggest that low-head dams can influence spatial patterns of fish assemblage structure in systems such as the Neosho River and that such assemblages also vary seasonally.

Current status of native fish species in Kansas

Abstract A re-evaluation of the status of fishes in Kansas suggests that 54 of the 116 native species should be assigned special conservation status due to substantial declines in distribution or abundance and/or their rarity in the state. Nine species are recommended for retention in their existing status of endangered, threatened, or species in need of conservation. We recommend elevated conservation status for 44 additional species, and provide information on trends in distribution and abundance for these taxa. A single species, the Arkansas River Shiner, Notropis girardi, is considered to be extirpated recently from Kansas.

Spatial Pattern and Environmental Correlates of a Midwestern Stream Fish Community: Including Spatial Autocorrelation as a Factor in Community Analyses

Abstract We examined patterns of spatial heterogeneity in the Spring River basin fish community along with environmental correlates to assess the relative importance of geographic distances and habitat differences among sites in explaining community structure. Spatial patterns of the fish community and environmental correlates, as indicated by results of Mantel tests and correlograms, were consistent with the hypothesis that environmental factors were the primary factors organizing the community at the basinwide scale. However, a linkage between mainstream and tributary communites, along with spatial autocorrelation in species composition, suggested contagious biotic processes were important in maintaining community structure, particularly at the interface between the mainstream and its tributaries. Space-constrained cluster analysis and principal coordinates analysis revealed three primary groups of sites, reflecting relatively distinct fish faunas within the Ozark Highlands, Central Plains and mainstream regions of the basin. Results of partial Mantel tests indicated that whereas environmental differences were significantly correlated to species differences, variation in community data could alternately be explained by contagious biotic processes, a factor often neglected in community analyses of stream drainage networks.

Population Structure of Four Pupfish Species (Cyprinodontidae: Cyprinodon) from the Chihuahuan Desert Region of New Mexico and Texas: Allozymic Variation

SMITH, P. W. 1979. The fishes of Illinois. University of Illinois Press, Urbana, Illinois. SNELSON, F. F.,JR. 1971. Notropis mekistocholas, a new herbivorous cyprinid fish endemic to the Cape Fear River basin, North Carolina. Copeia 1971:449-462. 1972. Systematics of the subgenus Lythrurus, genus Notropis (Pisces: Cyprinidae). Bull. Fla. State Mus. Biol. Sci. 17(1):1-92. 1973. Systematics and distribution of the ribbon shiner, Notropisfumeus (Cyprinidae), from the central United States. Amer. Midi. Nat. 89:166191. , . B., AND E.J. CROS MAN. 1973. Freshwater STARNES, W. C., AND D. A. ETNIER. 1986. Drainage evolution and fish biogeography of the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers drainage realm, p. 325361. In: Zoogeography of North American Freshwater Fishes. C. H. Hocutt, and E. O. Wiley (eds.). John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, New York. TRAUTMAN, M. B. 1981. The fishes of Ohio. Ohio State University Press, Columbus, Ohio.

Effects of Lowhead Dams on Freshwater Mussels in the Neosho River, Kansas

Abstract Freshwater mussels are declining rapidly in many parts of their range throughout North America, primarily as a result of anthropogenic alterations of their habitat, including damming of rivers. To assess the effects of lowhead dams on freshwater mussel assemblages in the Neosho River, Kansas, we sampled mussels by groping along transects and searching haphazardly along a 100-m stretch at eight sites of four site types (i.e., upstream reference, upstream treatment, downstream treatment, and downstream reference) centered around two lowhead dams. We collected from four to 11 species of mussels at each site, and a total of 13 species. Analysis of variance indicated a significant difference in mean species richness and evenness, but not abundance, among site types, consistent with the hypothesis that lowhead dams affect freshwater mussel assemblage composition in the Neosho River.

Habitat Partitioning Among Three Sympatric Species of Map Turtles, Genus Graptemys

Three species of map turtles, genus Graptemys, were trapped in rivers, streams, and lakes of southeastern and south-central Kansas, and 32 environmental variables were measured at each trap site to compare overlap in habitat use among species. Graptemys ouachitensis and G. pseudogeographica were collected in rivers with abundant basking sites. However, G. geographica was found exclusively in shady streams over rock and gravel substrata. The three species had high habitat overlap index values, but discriminant analysis based on environmental variables separated them into distinct groups. Variables most useful in distinguishing among groups were, in order of decreasing discriminating power, percentage rock substratum, percentage bare shoreline, dissolved carbon dioxide, percentage mud substratum, per- centage shade, dissolved oxygen, pH, and stream width. Graptemys pseudogeographica was commonly found together with G. ouachitensis, but sites of co-occurrence were distinguishable from sites where only one of these species occurred.

A Global Positioning System for Aquatic Surveys

Abstract The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a superior surveying technology that quickly provides highly accurate, reproducible spatial data, even in remote reference-free areas. In this article we review fundamentals, limitations, and strengths of the technology. The GPS is a satellite-based navigation system that relies on radio signals having intrinsic error sources such as signal deflection and intentional degradation by the U.S. Department of Defense. Accuracy is measured as the spatial divergence from a known location, and precision can be expressed with the root mean square statistic. Basic or differential GPS (BGPS and DGPS, respectively) is used depending on the spatial resolution needed and time allowed for a survey. The DGPS requires more time, data processing, and personnel training but is more accurate than BGPS due to correction of signal errors. Preliminary planning and training are essential for fisheries scientists preparing to conduct aquatic surveys.

Management Briefs: An Artificial Riffle as Restored Habitat for the Threatened Neosho Madtom

Abstract An artificial riffle was constructed in an area previously dredged of gravel in the Cottonwood River, Kansas, to restore habitat for the Neosho madtom Noturus placidus, classified as “threatened” by the federal government. Relative abundances of fishes on the artificial riffle were similar to those of fishes on two natural riffles, and the assemblage on the new riffle included nine riffle species. Similarity indexes of species abundance were high between consecutive samples throughout the year and between artificial and natural riffles, indicating that the assemblage stability of the artificial riffle closely resembled that of a natural riffle. During the first year after construction, the artificial riffles physical characteristics and fish species diversity and richness were similar to those of natural riffles. Two years after construction, the artificial riffle continued to harbor riffle fishes including N. placidus