Variable Fish Communities and the Index of Biotic Integrity in a Western Great Plains River
- 1 November 1991
- journal article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Transactions of the American Fisheries Society
- Vol. 120 (6) , 752-769
- https://doi.org/10.1577/1548-8659(1991)120<0752:vfcati>2.3.co;2
Abstract
We applied the index of biotic integrity (IBI) to the portion of the Arkansas River basin within the Southwestern Tablelands ecoregion, located on the Great Plains of southeastern Colorado. Only nine IBI metrics were appropriate for this region, largely because of the depauperate and tolerant ichthyofauna. The modified index was then used to assess effects of U.S. Army mechanized infantry training on biotic integrity of the Purgatoire River at 12 sites adjacent to the Pifion Canyon Maneuvers Site, a remote and relatively undisturbed canyon reach on a seventh-order Arkansas River tributary. Decrease in abundance of adult red shiners Cyprinella lutrensis, a tolerant omnivorous species, over a 6-year period (1983–1989) caused marked increases in the IBI at 9 of 12 sites despite lack of obvious changes in environmental quality after training began in 1985. Neither sampling variation nor the magnitude and timing of floods were sufficient to explain the large decrease in red shiner abundance. Other att...Keywords
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