Fish Community Composition: A Tool for Regional Water-Quality Assessment in
the Platte River Basin, Nebraska
Steven A. Frenze
ABSTRACT:
Composition of fish communities in the Platte River Basin in Nebraska was
determined as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality
Assessment Program. Electrofishing was conducted at 9 sites in late summer of
1993 and 1994. Extensive water chemistry and habitat data also were collected
at those 5 sites that integrate multiple land uses (Platte River mainstem and
large tributaries) and 4 sites that are indicative of particular land uses. At
3 sites, multiple reaches were sampled during 1994. Seven variables were
chosen to represent land use, water chemistry, flow, and habitat
conditions. Canonical correspondence analysis was used to examine the relation
of fish community composition to environmental data. Results indicated that
sites that integrate multiple land uses had similar community
composition. Sites indicative of either rangeland or cropland showed some
variability between years. Two sites, one draining 84 percent rangeland and
one draining 98 percent cropland, were widely separated in the ordination for
both years. Two other sites indicative of cropland showed different patterns
of community composition between years. Multiple reaches at the same sites
were tightly grouped in the ordination suggesting that each reach was
representative of site conditions.
CITATION:
Frenzel, S.A., 1995, Fish Community Composition: A Tool for Regional Water-Quality
Assessment in the Platte River Basin, Nebraska [abs.]: Bulletin of the North
American Benthological Society, v. 12, no. 1, p. 157.