Abstract
Fish, instream habitat, and physical stream conditions were surveyed in 29 agricultural streams in the Red River of the North basin during summer 1994 and the Minnesota River basin during summer 1997. Our goal was to determine which instream habitat and physical conditions should be considered for stream restoration. Principle components analysis identified six axes that explained 79% of the total variability in instream habitat and physical conditions. Percent run, percent boulder, percent woody debris, percent overhanging vegetation, percent sand, and frequency of erosion were the variables best associated with these axes. Multiple linear regression analysis of the instream habitat and physical conditions explained 14-50% of the variability in fish community composition. Managers of agricultural warmwater streams in the northern Midwest should emphasize these six instream habitat and physical conditions, and the factors that influence them, during stream restoration.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 825-833 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | North American Journal of Fisheries Management |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Aug 2002 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Support for this study was provided by the National Water Quality Assessment Program of the U.S. Geological Survey. We would like to thank Bruce Vondracek, Helena Kriel, Kathy Lee, Paul Hanson, Jim Stark, Joe Stauffer, Josh Larson, Jesse Anderson, Konrad Schmidt, Jack Enblom, Mike Feist, and Jack Wingate for their contributions in the field and/or suggestions that improved this study. We also thank Michael Hansen, Kevin Pope, and an anonymous reviewer for suggestions and comments that improved this manuscript.
