Stream Crayfish Distribution Patterns and Habitat Associations in northern Mississippi
Abstract
Distribution patterns and habitat associations of crayfishes in Mississippi are largely unexplored. During summers 1999-2003, we sampled crayfishes, fishes and habitat in 119 stream sites in northern Mississippi. We captured over 1,200 crayfish of 9 species from 3 genera. Species co-occurrence analyses and principal components analyses (PCA) of species abundances indicated significant species structuring among crayfish assemblages. We infer from co-occurrence patterns that both competitive interactions and historic processes led to present distributions. Mantel tests and PCA both indicated that crayfish assemblage characteristics are significantly related to stream size, but not to other habitat variables. In contrast to the nearly-universal rule for aquatic taxa that species richness increases with stream size, crayfish richness, abundance, and density were inversely related to stream size. Crayfish densities dropped precipitously when watershed area exceeded about 2,500 hectares. The low richness and abundance of crayfishes in medium and large streams may be due, in part, to the extreme disturbance from channelization and incisement in middle to lower reaches of most of the drainages we studied. Intermittent and very small perennial streams are sometimes regarded as biologically unimportant by land managers, but are primary strongholds of stream crayfishes in northern Mississippi.
- Publication:
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AGU Spring Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- May 2005
- Bibcode:
- 2005AGUSMNB14C..02A
- Keywords:
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- 9810 New fields (not classifiable under other headings)