Distribution of Fishes in the Red River of the North Basin on Multivariate Environmental Gradients

Abstract:  Koel, Todd Marvin, Ph.D., Department of Zoology, College of Science and Mathematics, North Dakota State University, May 1997. Distribution of Fishes in the Red River of the North Basin on Multivariate Environmental Gradients. Major Professor: Dr. John J. Peterka.

Surveys of fishes conducted at 1026 sites from 1892-1994 identified 77 native and seven introduced species in the Red River of the North basin in the United States. Twenty-nine species were cyprinids; and 10, 9, 8, and 6 species were percids, centrarchids, catostomids, and ictalurids, respectively. The white sucker (Catostomus commersoni), fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas), and common shiner (Luxilus cornutus) were the most common species, occurring at 60%, 53%, and 47% of the sites sampled, respectively. Species which were most rare included the largescale stoneroller (Campostoma oligolepis), pugnose shiner (Notropis anogenus), and mottled sculpin (Cottus bairdi), all found at <1% of the sites. Cluster analysis (CA) based on species present placed 26 streams into four ecologically meaningful clusters, suggesting that size and geographic location of streams influenced faunal composition. Species assemblages of streams were produced by CA which described typical associations of fishes found in different regions of the basin. The coefficient of determination for fish species richness correlated with average annual discharge, stream length, and watershed area of 60%, 57%, and 50%, respectively. Canonical correspondence analysis indicated that average annual discharge, the coefficient of variation of mean monthly discharge, specific conductivity, hardness, and residue were the most important physiochemical variables controlling fish assemblage composition at 46 stream reaches in the basin. Reaches with high species diversity were characterized by waters with high discharge and low flow variability, specific conductivity, hardness, and residue.

Table of Contents

• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Physical Characteristics of the Red River Basin
• Literature Review
  • Chronological Listing of Fish Surveys
  • Other Regional Studies
  • Ecology of Stream Fishes
  • Statistical Analyses of Fish Distributions
• Methods
  • Collection and Manipulation of Fish Survey Data
  • Mapping of Fish Distribution
  • Stream Similarity
  • Species Association Analysis
  • Species-area Relationships
  • Gradient Analysis
• Results
  • History of Stream Fish Survey Effort in the Red River Basin
  • The Fishes of the Red River Basin
  • The Distribution of Stream Fish Species
  • Species Association of Stream Fishes
  • The Species-environment Relationship
• Discussion
  • Introduction
  • The Distribution of Stream Fish Species
  • Similarity of Streams Based on Fish Assemblages
  • Species Association of Stream Fishes
  • Species-area Relationship
  • Gradient Analysis
• Conslusions
• References

Tables

• Table 1 -- United States Geological Survey water quality and streamflow sampling stations utilized for canonical correspondence analysis.
• Table 2 -- Sources of fish survey data used to produce species distribution maps.
• Table 3 -- Fish species reported in surveys of the Red River during 1892-1994.
• Table 4 -- Percent occurrence of fish species at sites sampled during 1962-1994 in streams of the Red River basin.
• Table 5 -- Loadings of the original variables on principal component axes 1 and 2 for 27 streams in the Red River basin.
• Table 6 -- Scores of 27 streams on principal component axes 1-5 and percent total variance in species richness.
• Table 7 -- Data used for correlations among species richness and watershed area, stream length, and average annual discharge in cubic feet per second.
• Table 8 -- Correlation coefficients of environmental variables with canonical correspondence axes 1-4.
• Table A1 -- Fish records without specific site locations.
• Table A2 -- Environmental data from 46 streams reaches in the Red River basin used for canonical correspondence analysis.
• Table A3 -- Fish species data ranked from 0-5 based on frequency of occurrence.