Spacial and temporal patterns of drifting fish larvae in the upper Pigeon River, Haywood County, North Carolina

Spacial and temporal patterns of drifting fish larvae in the upper Pigeon River, Haywood County, North Carolina

Fishes -- Ecology

Fishes -- Effect of dams on

Fishes -- Effect of pollution on

Fishes -- Effect of temperature on

Fishes -- Effect of water quality on

Fishes -- Larvae -- Dispersal

Pigeon River (N.C. and Tenn.) -- Environmental conditions

LaVoie, Michael J.

2007

Martin, Thomas

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61693

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The Pigeon River has undergone vast improvements in water quality in recent years owing to upgrades in paper manufacturing and wastewater treatment in Canton. Species richness of the fish assemblage has recently improved through both re-colonization from tributaries and the reintroduction of previously extirpated species. Recent surveys have indicated that certain fish species are present upstream of Canton but are absent below the city. Potential barriers to colonization exist in the main stem of the river at Canton in the form of an impoundment and low-head dam, as well as thermal and chemical effluents. The downstream drift of larval fishes has been shown to be an important dispersal and recruitment mechanism for some species. To examine the potential for colonization from upstream and determine if barriers to dispersal exist, fish larvae were collected with drift nets at three spatially separated sites to. Drifting fish larvae density directly below the low-head dams was less than 50% of the density measured at the other two sites. Relative abundance of larval fish taxa was also found to differ among sites with the assemblage dominated by Percidae and Cyprinidae upstream of the paper mill and Centrarchidae and Catostomidae downstream of the paper mill. It appears that barriers to re-colonization exist that may hinder the long term success of restoration efforts.

2014-10-20

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Pigeon River (N.C. and Tenn.)

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