Fish community Structure as a Measure of Degradation and Rehabilitation of riparian Systems in an Agricultural Drainage Basin

摘要

Assessing the health of ecological compo- nets of agroecosystems may be accomplished by examin- ing changes in the drainage basin, which serves as an inte- grator of the agroecosystem landscape. In this study we examined fish communities in terms of an array of indicators of structure and related these to changes in riparian vegeta- tion and agricultural practice. Evidence suggests manage- ment practices designed to foster healthier environments by, for example, reestablishing riparian vegetation were associ- ated with positive impacts on the integrity of the fish commu- nity.