Long-term fish community dynamics from a blackwater stream receiving kraft mill effluent between 1973 and 1988

Abstract

Archived data from a long-term (1973)(1974)(1975)(1976)(1977)(1978)(1979)(1980)(1981)(1982)(1983)(1984)(1985)(1986)(1987)(1988) monitoring study were used to assess the impacts of kraft mill effluents (KME) on fish community dynamics in Elevenmile Creek, a small blackwater stream located in Cantonment, Florida, compared to a neighboring stream, Black Creek, that did not receive KME. The fish community in Elevenmile Creek was generally lower in species richness and diversity than the reference stream. The exception was the mill outfall site, which had similar species richness and diversity to the reference stream. Neither species richness nor diversity changed substantially during the survey period in either stream. Throughout the survey, Elevenmile Creek was numerically dominated by bluegill, Lepomis macrochirus, and eastern mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis. Black Creek had greater abundances of minnows, suckers, and darters. Time series analysis of L. macrochirus for Elevenmile Creek showed that this species was more abundant during winter than summer, but no overall long-term trend was found. Although data used in this study may not be representative of the fish community in Elevenmile Creek as it exists today, results suggest that Elevenmile Creek was highly disturbed during the survey and that species diversity did not increase following mill treatment upgrades.

Patterns of fish community structure in a long‐term watershed‐scale study to address the aquatic ecosystem effects of pulp and paper mill discharges in four us receiving streams

“…The IBI scores indicated average to excellent environmental quality downstream of PPME discharges, and these did not change relative to sites upstream. Greenfield and Bart (2005) used archived data to assess the effects of PPME from a kraft mill on fish community dynamics in an effluent‐dominated (in‐stream effluent concentration >50%) Florida blackwater stream compared with a nearby stream not receiving PPME. Over the 16‐y study, the fish community in the PPME receiving stream had lower species richness and diversity than the control stream at all sites, except at the PPME outfall, where these measures were similar to those in the control stream.…”

“…Although population‐level field studies have been conducted (Sanström 1996; Kovacs et al 1997; McMaster et al 2006), studies examining the relationship between PPME and community structure and function in effluent‐receiving streams are rare. Few studies have compared fish community structure in rivers downstream of PPME discharges to communities at reference sites (Adams et al 1996; D'Surney et al 2000; Kovacs et al 2002; Greenfield and Bart 2005), and some community‐level studies in lake and marine environments have also been completed (Hansson 1987; Neuman and Karås 1988; Karels and Niemi 2002; Sanström and Neuman 2003). In most cases, studies were conducted over relatively short periods of time and provided a snapshot assessment of fish condition, although some studies were designed to examine improvements in fish community measures after mill operational changes that improved PPME quality (Kovacs et al 2002; Sanström and Neuman 2003; Greenfield and Bart 2005).…”

Stable Isotope Analysis Reveals Anthropogenic Effects on Fish Assemblages in a Temperate Reservoir

“…Cyprinids were less common at PME‐exposed sites, suggesting increased sensitivity to PME or to PME‐mediated nutrient enrichment, and may therefore be indicative of impacted communities. This and other studies (Greenfield and Bart, ; Kovacs et al , ) have shown that cyprinid abundance may therefore be an appropriate indicator species for impacted systems, although conclusions based on a diverse family may be limited. White perch were the most abundant species and were especially dominant at DS sites where diversity, richness and abundance were lower overall (Figure ).…”

“…Other studies of the effects of PME on fish communities have identified similar trends. A 25‐year study of fish community dynamics in Florida streams revealed a higher total catch in a PME‐impacted stream relative to a nearby reference stream (Greenfield and Bart, ). However, overall species diversity and species richness were lower in the impacted stream as the local assemblages were dominated by two species ( Lepomis macrochirus and Gambusia affinis ) together comprising almost three quarters of the total catch while cyprinids, catostomids and percids were greatly reduced (Greenfield and Bart, ).…”

“…These changes, however, may not be consistent among food webs with varying habitats, species and trophic levels (e.g. Debruyn et al, 2002;Debruyn et al, 2004;Greenfield and Bart, 2005;Karels and Niemi, 2002;Kovacs et al, 2002). Anthropogenic disturbances can increase baseline productivity and decrease food chain length (Cabana and Rasmussen, 1996), although food chains may actually be longer at intermediate levels of disturbance (Post, 2002a).…”