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Communication at the NABS Annual meeting, Keystone, 2000
(59) LONGITUDINAL PATTERNS IN FISH ASSEMBLAGE AND STREAM HABITAT RELATIONSHIPS: PART I. SPATIALLY CONTINUOUS ANALYSIS AND THE INFLUENCE OF SCALE.
C.E. Torgersen1, C.V. Baxter1, H.W. Li2, and B.A. McIntosh3. 1Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA, 97331, 2Oregon Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA, 97331, 3Department of Forest Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA, 97331
Large-scale patterns in water temperature and stream morphology explain fish assemblage structure in headwater versus lowland reaches, and small-scale patterns in water velocity determine the distribution of fishes in pools and riffles. The processes influencing fish assemblages at large and small scales are well understood. However, little is known about spatial variability in fish assemblage structure or how these patterns are linked with physical habitat because investigations in stream fish ecology typically employ a site-based approach that yields information too coarse for detecting patterns across multiple scales. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of temperature and stream morphology on longitudinal succession in stream fishes in a spatially explicit context. We applied remote sensing and ground-based surveys to map spatially continuous patterns of water temperature and stream morphometry and we conducted extensive underwater surveys to map the distribution of fishes in a wilderness stream in northeastern Oregon. Investigations of continuous patterns of stream habitat, temperature, and fish distribution have (1) facilitated assessment of biotic and abiotic patterns at multiple scales, and (2) revealed a more "continuous" picture of stream fishes and their habitat than can be detected using a site-based approach.
Presented at 4:15 PM on Monday, May 29, 2000 in Spatial and Temporal Variation in Aquatic Communities II
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