Stream Fish Community Dynamics by William J. Matthews & Edie Marsh-Matthews

Author:William J. Matthews & Edie Marsh-Matthews [Matthews, William J.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
Published: 2017-05-14T04:00:00+00:00

FIG. 6.7 Raw number of juveniles of five minnow species and one sucker in August 2006 and August 2008 (after the floods of April and May 2008), across five sites in Piney Creek. Data from Matthews et al. (2014, table 4).

Our samples in Brier Creek in 1999 and 2001, the years following two of the most severe drought on record (1998 and 2000), present an enigma: after the 2000 drought we found huge increases in abundance of Golden Redhorse and Spotted Sucker (Minytrema melanops), much like the increases we saw in Black Redhorse suckers in Piney Creek after catastrophic floods! In 10 previous surveys of Brier Creek we had never caught more than 10 individuals of ether species, but both numbered well over 200 in 2001 (Matthews et al. 2013, table 1). Figure 6.8 shows increases in total numbers of these suckers, as well as Central Stoneroller, Largemouth Bass, and Orangethroat Darter, mostly attributable to large numbers of juveniles in the year(s) after drought. For the latter three species, samples in 2001 (after both droughts had occurred) represented big increases relative to previous years and the second-largest number of each of these species ever detected. Curiously, the largest numbers of these three species detected in any of our surveys were all taken in 1988 when the creek was also in drought condition! We have no idea about the mechanism(s) that resulted in huge numbers of young for these species in the summers following drought. Starrett (1951) speculated that harsh periods in Great Plains rivers might reduce standing crops of adults, allowing “space” for new fish, but in 1999 and 2001 we still found substantial numbers of adults in Brier Creek, so that seems an unlikely explanation for the mystery.

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