Affiliation:
1. R.S. Duncan
2. Birmingham-Southern College, 900 Arkadelphia Road, Birmingham, Alabama 35254
3. B.R. Kuhajda
4. Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute, 1 Broad Street, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37402
5. C.A. Hodges, A.L. Messenger
Abstract
Abstract
Despite Alabama's exceptionally diverse freshwater fish fauna, many of its fish species face extinction. Some of the state's most imperiled species dwell within coldwater springs, but a deficit of knowledge about their ecology hampers protection efforts. The watercress darter Etheostoma nuchale is a species confined to five springs in the greater Birmingham metropolitan area. Roebuck Spring likely harbors the largest population. Its pool has been surveyed occasionally, but there had been no survey of its run, a shallow stream flowing from the pool. We investigated the darter's use of the run, its habitat preferences, and characteristics of the habitats where it is most abundant. We quantified the abundance of stream microhabitats, then estimated darter density in the stream's five most common habitats using a throw trap, a high-walled metal frame dropped in the habitat. We found darters at densities vastly exceeding typical estimates derived using seine nets. We estimated the run harbored 116,932 (79,358–155,965) darters, two-thirds of which were juveniles. The most preferred habitat was coontail Ceratophyllum demersum, a submergent plant not previously known to provide darter habitat. Coontail grew prolifically in swift currents, which was surprising given that darter habitats described previously had little to no current. Coontail provided a more structurally complex habitat than the plants of the other microhabitats studied. Our results suggest that spring runs can support substantial densities of the watercress darter if dense submergent vegetation is present.
Publisher
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Subject
Nature and Landscape Conservation,Animal Science and Zoology,Ecology,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Cited by
1 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献