An Evaluation of Habitat Structure and the Distribution of Rare and Common Darters in Ohio
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Wright State University CORE Scholar Browse all Theses and Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 2011 An Evaluation of Habitat Structure and the Distribution of Rare and Common Darters in Ohio Erin Lee Kingdom Wright State University Follow this and additional works at: https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/etd_all Part of the Biology Commons Repository Citation Kingdom, Erin Lee, "An Evaluation of Habitat Structure and the Distribution of Rare and Common Darters in Ohio" (2011). Browse all Theses and Dissertations. 466. https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/etd_all/466 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at CORE Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Browse all Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of CORE Scholar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. AN EVALUATION OF HABITAT STRUCTURE AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF RARE AND COMMON DARTERS IN OHIO A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science By ERIN LEE KINGDOM B.S., Wright State University, 2004 2011 Wright State University WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES June 20, 2011 I HEREBY RECOMMEND THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER MY SUPERVISION BY Erin L. Kingdom ENTITLED An Evaluation of Habitat Structure and the Distribution of Rare and Common Darters in Ohio BE ACCEPTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF Master of Science Yvonne Vadeboncoeur, Ph.D. Thesis Director David Goldstein, Ph. D. Department Chair of Biological Sciences Committee on Final Examination Yvonne Vadeboncoeur, Ph.D. James Runkle, Ph.D. Don Cipollini, Ph.D. ________________________________ Andrew Hsu, Ph.D. Dean, School of Graduate Studies Abstract Kingdom, Erin L. M.S., Department of Biological Sciences, Wright State University, 2011.―An Evaluation of Habitat Structure and the Distribution of Rare and Common Darters in Ohio‖ Darters are small benthic-feeding fish. I examined reasons why some darter species are rarer than others based on geographic range, habitat specificity, and local population size using the Ohio EPA database and field research. The Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI) represented habitat quality. I examined drainage area and gradient at the landscape-scale, riparian and channel characteristics at the reach-scale, and substrate, cover, and riffle/pool characteristics at the microhabitat scale. Some rare species occur in few rivers in Ohio, but throughout a basin, while other rare species occur only in moderate-sized rivers. Most rare species occur at only a few sites with low abundance. Common darters occurred in all-sized rivers and gradients. Rare darters occurred in large drainage areas with moderate gradients. Species richness was positively correlated with high QHEI, although the common johnny darter was abundant at sites with low QHEI. Mesohabitat and microhabitat were examined for each darter species within the species- rich Scioto River and Muskingum River basins. Rare species were more associated with high quality habitat than common species. Within Battelle-Darby Creek Metropark, a site with good habitat quality, species distributions differed. Overall, watershed size was the best predictor for a darter’s distribution. iii Table of Contents 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 1 Evaluation of landscape-scale elements on darter distributions: Ohio EPA’s Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI) ............................................................................................................. 4 Evaluation of habitat use by darters on a smaller scale: within a segment of a basin ................. 5 Objectives .................................................................................................................................... 6 2. Methods ....................................................................................................................................... 7 Large-scale habitat influence on darter distributions ................................................................... 7 Intermediate-scale habitat influence on darter distributions ........................................................ 8 Microhabitat-scale influence on darter distributions .................................................................... 9 A microhabitat field study: Big Darby Creek’s riffle-dwelling darters .................................... 11 3. Results ........................................................................................................................................ 14 Forms of rarity: darter distributions in the Eastern United States and in Ohio .......................... 14 Darter habitat at the landscape-scale .......................................................................................... 15 Distribution of darters within the Scioto and Muskingum basins .............................................. 16 Darter habitat at the reach-scale ................................................................................................. 17 Microhabitat scale ...................................................................................................................... 18 A microhabitat analysis: Big Darby Creek ................................................................................ 20 4. Discussion .................................................................................................................................. 22 5. References .................................................................................................................................. 31 6. Figures ....................................................................................................................................... 34 7. Tables ......................................................................................................................................... 56 iv List of Figures Figure Page 1. Distribution of nineteen darter species in North America and in Ohio ..................................... 34 2. Relationship between the number of sites where a particular species was present and (a) the average of individuals per site and (b) total number of individuals in Ohio .................................. 39 3. Darter abundance as a function of drainage area (feet/mile) for each of Ohio’s nineteen darter species ............................................................................................................................................ 40 4. Darter abundance as a function of gradient (feet/mile) for each of Ohio’s nineteen darter species ............................................................................................................................................ 41 5. The Scioto River and Muskingum River Basins in Ohio .......................................................... 42 6. The relationship between the number of species at a site and QHEI score .............................. 43 7. The relationship between the number of darter individuals for two common darters and the QHEI score at sites where they are found ...................................................................................... 44 8. Difference in QHEI habitat scores at sites (presence-absence) for each darter species ............ 45 9. Difference in mesoscale habitat scores at sites (presence-absence) for each darter species ..... 46 10. Difference in microscale habitat scores (cover, substrate, pool, and riffle scores) at sites (presence-absence) for common and rare darter species........................................................... 47-48 11. Overall difference in QHEI scores for each darter species (sites present- sites absent) (represented by D-statistics) against darter abundances for the Scioto and Muskingum River Basins ............................................................................................................................................. 49 12. Difference in mesoscale habitat scores for each darter species (sites present- sites absent) (represented by D-statistics) against darter abundances for the Scioto and Muskingum River Basins ............................................................................................................................................. 50 13. Difference in microhabitat scale habitat scores for each darter species (sites present- sites absent) (represented by D-statistics) against darter abundances for the Scioto and Muskingum River Basins .............................................................................................................................. 51-52 v 14. Daily discharge (cubic feet/second) from end of May to beginning of August 2006 and average daily temperatures for Big Darby Creek from June1-July31 2006. .................................. 53 15. Darter species composition in Big Darby Creek study sites ................................................... 54 16. Substrate composition and darter presence in Big Darby Creek study sites ............................ 55 vi List of Tables Table Page Table 1. Habitat use of darters modified from Trautman (1957) and Keuhne & Barbour (1983) ...........................................................................................56 Table 2. Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI) components used by the Ohio EPA to quantify habitat characteristics