Urbanization and freshwater input influences on tidal creek fish assemblages of the lower St Johns River Florida
Dennis GD, Weaver D, Sulak KJ. 2001. Urbanization and freshwater input influences on tidal creek fish assemblages of the lower St Johns River Florida. United States Geological Survey. Gainesville, Florida
The report compares four tidal creeks that differ in levels of development and freshwater input to assess the role of these two factors on structuring of the tidal creek fish assemblage using the patterns of faunal composition and abundance to evaluate impacts of development on the assemblages. Fish assemblages can be impacted by a large number of factors, such as urbanization, the amount of freshwater inflow, pollution, species composition and others. These fish assemblages are very important in understanding what is occuring in an aquatic ecosystem as they are indicators of direct and indirect stressors. If a fish assemblage is being impacted by urbanization and is being polluted, it will most likely indicate an overall lower species richness and diversity throughout an estuary. The authors examined the possible impacts that different levels of urbanization and freshwater inflow have on the structure of four different tidal creek fish assemblages. The patterns of faunal composition and abundance were used to evaluate the potential impacts of human development on the study assemblages.
- Type
- Unpublished Report
- Authors
- Dennis, George; Weaver, Douglas; Sulak, Kenneth
- Date of Issue
- 2001-07-15
- Publisher
- United States Geological Survey
- Units
- TIMU
- Keywords
- Animal Studies, Aquatic Habitats, environmental stress, Fish, Fisheries Management, Fish-Habitat, Spawning, Water Quality