Effects of Urban Development on Fish Population Dynamics in Kelsey Creek, Washington

Abstract

A 30‐month study of the comparative dynamics of the fish populations inhabiting Kelsey Creek, located in the City of Bellevue, Washington, and a nearby pristine control stream suggest that urban development has resulted in a restructuring of the fish community. Environmental perturbations, including habitat alteration, increased nutrient loading, and degradation of the intragravel environment appeared to have a greater impact on coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch and nonsalmonid fish species than on cutthroat trout Salmo clarki. Although the total biomass (g/m2) of fish in each stream was similar, its composition differed markedly. Ages 0 and I cutthroat trout were the majority of the fish community inhabiting Kelsey Creek, whereas the control stream supported a diverse assemblage of salmonids of various ages and numerous nonsalmonids. The rapid growth and greater biomass of salmonids in Kelsey Creek (a 2‐year mean of 3.51 g/m2 versus 2.03 g/m2 in the control stream) resulted in a total annual net production of these species of 1.6 to 3.3 times that of the control stream (a 2‐year mean of 7.6 g/m2 versus 3.5 g/m2 in the control stream). Marking and outmigrant studies indicated that environmental disruptions in the urban stream do not result in the displacement of the salmonid inhabitants.

Assessing Urban Impacts on Water Quality, Benthic Communities and Fish in Streams of the Andes Mountains, Patagonia (Argentina)

“…Scott et al (1986) found that salmonid production was higher at urban sites than forested reference sites in western North America, possibly because invertebrate biomass was greater in the urban stream. In contrast, other North American studies (Onorato et al 2000;Morgan and Cushman 2005) suggest that fish diversity and abundance declines with increasing urbanization, and that relative abundance of tolerant fish taxa increases.…”

Feeding ecology of a stream fish assemblage in an Atlantic Forest remnant (Serra do Japi, SP, Brazil)

“…The combination of higher temperatures, conductivity and total phosphorus at these sites (Rolla, 2008) may have contributed to an increase in productivity, as also suggested by Treviño et al (1969) and Paul & Meyer (2001) which have shown that nutrient loads can stimulate fish production. In North American streams Scott et al (1986) found that fish grew more rapidly and to larger sizes in urban sites, increasing fish production when compared to forested sites, presumably as a result of warmer temperatures and greater invertebrate biomass in the urban stream.…”

Analysis of fish communities along a rural–urban gradient in a neotropical stream (Piracicaba River Basin, São Paulo, Brazil)

“…Scott et al (1986) found that urban development resulted in a restructuring of the fish community, and Pompeu & Alves (2005) and Cunico et al (2006) reported profound changes in fish community structure in two different Brazilian urban rivers. However, despite these few studies on fish assemblage responses to urbanization, a general response model does not exist (Paul & Meyer, 2001), especially for the neotropical region where relevant information is even more scarce.…”