Stream fish populations in a watershed scale context for fish community dynamics in central Appalachian watersheds.

摘要

In this study we first conducted a three pass removal study to estimate electrofishing capture probabilities for species and size classes of fish common in the Cheat River and Tygart River watersheds of West Virginia. We then calculated models of capture probabilities for 12 species that were divided into two size classes based on site-specific physico-chemical variables. We took these capture probability models and applied them to a watershed scale study in the Cheat River and Tygart Valley River watersheds of West Virginia. We sampled across the two watersheds with the objective of quantifying and relating juvenile and adult distributions within species along a stream size continuum. The 14 species that were included in the study we found to be mostly non-uniformly distributed across the watershed. We used general stream size to categorize where the concentrations of each species and size class were, in relation to the watershed and each other. Our analyses determined among species variations in the degree of overlap of juvenile and adult distributions within species. We generally related watershed population and community level organization to the within species juvenile and adult distributions.