Centrarchid Assemblages in Floodplain Lakes of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley

Abstract

The family Centrarchidae is a principal and visible component of the ichthyofauna in most warmwater ecosystems in North America, and many of its species provide key recreational fisheries. We examined the significance of various local environmental factors to 13 centrarchid species in 53 floodplain lakes (remnant channels) of the Mississippi alluvial valley to identify major environmental gradients influential in structuring centrarchid assemblages. With few exceptions, changes in forest representation in the land cover, both in the lakeshore and the catchment, had the strongest associations with centrarchid assemblages. Other influential factors included depth, water clarity, and primary productivity. Connectivity to adjacent streams was weakly correlated with centrarchid assemblage structure and correlated only with a small number of species. Lake area did not appear to affect centrarchid assemblages. Recognition that land cover has the strongest correlation with centrarchid assemblage composition suggests a landscape basis for developing management plans. However, conservation and restoration of native centrarchid assemblages in these unique ecosystems will require both watershed management to curtail inputs and in‐lake management to reverse years of neglect.

Intercontinental comparison of fish ecomorphology: null model tests of community assembly at the patch scale in rivers

“…For example, Alfermann and Miranda (2013) found that land cover, water depth, and primary productivity influenced centrarchid assemblages of 53 lakes in Notes: When the regression for mean nearest-neighbor distance (NND) had a statistically lower slope than expected at random, species packing with high niche overlap is supported (average similarity increases with species richness); if the regression slope has a significantly higher slope than expected at random, then limiting similarity is supported. For example, Alfermann and Miranda (2013) found that land cover, water depth, and primary productivity influenced centrarchid assemblages of 53 lakes in Notes: When the regression for mean nearest-neighbor distance (NND) had a statistically lower slope than expected at random, species packing with high niche overlap is supported (average similarity increases with species richness); if the regression slope has a significantly higher slope than expected at random, then limiting similarity is supported.…”

“…Adaptive diversification over evolutionary time and environmental filtering in the short term both appear to influence the structure of perciform assemblages in rivers when comparisons are across regional scales. For example, Alfermann and Miranda (2013) found that land cover, water depth, and primary productivity influenced centrarchid assemblages of 53 lakes in Notes: When the regression for mean nearest-neighbor distance (NND) had a statistically lower slope than expected at random, species packing with high niche overlap is supported (average similarity increases with species richness); if the regression slope has a significantly higher slope than expected at random, then limiting similarity is supported. When the regression slope of mean distance to the assemblage centroid (CD) was significantly higher than expected at random, greater species richness was associated with expansion of assemblage morphospace.…”

Spatial patterns of lacustrine fish assemblages in a catchment of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley

“…Floodplain lakes are integral components of the environment in the alluvial valley of the lower Mississippi River. Landscape site features, lake morphometry, and lake‐level connectivity to adjacent flowing water influence fish assemblage composition in floodplain lakes in the region (Lubinski et al , ; Dembkowski and Miranda, , ; Alfermann and Miranda, ). Such patterns are also evident in European (Aarts et al , ; Penczak et al , ) and South American (Rodríguez and Lewis, ; Tejerina‐Garro et al , ) basins.…”