science for a changing world National Water-Quality Assessment Program RELATIONS OF STREAM FISH COMMUNITIES TO PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PARAMETERS AND LAND USE IN THE MISSISSIPPI ALLUVIAL PLAIN ECOREGION Open-File Report 03-31 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey RELATIONS OF STREAM FISH COMMUNITIES TO PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PARAMETERS AND LAND USE IN THE MISSISSIPPI ALLUVIAL PLAIN ECOREGION by Brian J. Caskey __________ U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Open-File Report 03-31 National Water-Quality Assessment Program Jackson, Mississippi 2003 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR GALE A. NORTON, Secretary U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Charles G. Groat, Director Any use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Geological Survey. For additional information Copies of this report can be write to: purchased from: District Chief U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Geological Survey Branch of Information Services 308 South Airport Road Box 25286 Jackson, Mississippi 39208-6649 Denver Federal Center Denver, Colorado 80225 Information regarding the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program is available on the Internet via the World Wide Web. You may connect to the NAWQA Home Page using the Universal Resource Locator (URL) at: http://wwwrvares.er.usgs.gov/nawqa_home.html. FOREWORD The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is commit­ resources, and agricultural, urban, and natural sources ted to serve the Nation with accurate and timely scien­ of contamination. tific information that helps enhance and protect the Each assessment is guided by a nationally con­ overall quality of life, and facilitates effective manage­ sistent study design and methods of sampling and anal­ ment of water, biological, energy, and mineral ysis. The assessments thereby build local knowledge resources. Information on the quality of the Nation's about water-quality issues and trends in a particular water resources is of critical interest to the USGS stream or aquifer while providing an understanding of because it is so integrally linked to the long-term avail­ how and why water quality varies regionally and ability of water that is clean and safe for drinking and nationally. The consistent, multi-scale approach helps recreation and that is suitable for industry, irrigation, to determine if certain types of water-quality issues are and habitat for fish and wildlife. Escalating population isolated or pervasive, and allows direct comparisons of growth and increasing demands for the multiple water how human activities and natural processes affect water quality and ecological health in the Nation's uses make water availability, now measured in terms of diverse geographic and environmental settings. Com­ quantity and quality, even more critical to the long- prehensive assessments on pesticides, nutrients, vola­ term sustainability of our communities and ecosys­ tile organic compounds, trace metals, and aquatic tems. ecology are developed at the national scale through The USGS implemented the National Water- comparative analysis of the Study-Unit findings. Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program to support The USGS places high value on the communica­ national, regional, and local information needs and tion and dissemination of credible, timely, and relevant decisions related to water-quality management and pol­ science so that the most recent and available knowl­ icy. Shaped by and coordinated with ongoing efforts of edge about water resources can be applied in manage­ other Federal, State, and local agencies, the NAWQA ment and policy decisions. We hope this NAWQA Program is designed to answer: What is the condition publication will provide you the needed insights and of our Nation's streams and ground water? How are the information to meet your needs, and thereby foster conditions changing over time? How do natural fea­ increased awareness and involvement in the protection tures and human activities affect the quality of streams and restoration of our Nation's waters. and ground water, and where are those effects most The NAWQA Program recognizes that a national pronounced? By combining information on water assessment by a single program cannot address all chemistry, physical characteristics, stream habitat, and water-resource issues of interest. External coordination aquatic life, the NAWQA Program aims to provide at all levels is critical for a fully integrated understand­ science-based insights for current and emerging water ing of watersheds and for cost-effective management, issues. NAWQA results can contribute to informed regulation, and conservation of our Nation's water decisions that result in practical and effective water- resources. The Program, therefore, depends exten­ resource management and strategies that protect and sively on the advice, cooperation, and information restore water quality. from other Federal, State, interstate, Tribal, and local Since 1991, the NAWQA Program has imple­ agencies, non-government organizations, industry, aca- mented interdisciplinary assessments in more than 50 demia, and other stakeholder groups. The assistance of the Nation's most important river basins and aqui­ and suggestions of all are greatly appreciated. fers, referred to as Study Units. Collectively, these Study Units account for more than 60 percent of the overall water use and population served by public Robert M. Hirsch water supply, and are representative of the Nation's Associate Director for Water major hydrologic landscapes, priority ecological Preface In 1994, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began a study of the Mississippi Embayment Study Unit (MISE) as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program. The NAWQA Program is designed to assess status and trends in the quality of the Nation's water resouces and to determine the natural and human factors affecting these resources. The Program will eventually inte­ grate physical, chemical, and biological data from more than 50 study units across the Nation. All of the data presented herein were collected in support of the MISE NAWQA Program and were collected according to the protocols set forth by the NAWQA Program. The author, Brian J. Caskey, collected much of the data as part of his duties as an employee of the USGS on the MISE NAWQA project. Any use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the USGS. This thesis was written in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Environmental Science. The thesis is presented here in its entirety and was written, formatted, edited, compiled, and approved in accordance with the requirements of the Department of Environmental Science, Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi. RELATIONS OF STREAM FISH COMMUNITIES TO PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PARAMETERS AND LAND USE IN THE MISSISSIPPI ALLUVIAL PLAIN ECOREGION by Brian J. Caskey A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate School Jackson State University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE May, 2002 Major Subject: Environmental Science RELATIONS OF STREAM FISH COMMUNITIES TO PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PARAMETERS AND LAND USE IN THE MISSISSIPPI ALLUVIAL PLAIN ECOREGION A Thesis by Brian J. Caskey (2 ' Committee Qiairpers Committee Member Committee Member Dean, Graduate School May 2002 DEDICATION In memory of my great aunt Bea Sherban, who first influenced my appreciation of nature. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES .......................................................v LIST OF FIGURES..................................................... viii LIST OF APPENDIX .................................................... ix ACKNOWLEDGMENT................................................... x ABSTRACT........................................................... xi INTRODUCTION. .......................................................1 Chapter 1 REVIEW OF LITERATURE ON FISH COMMUNITY ASSESSMENTS AND LAND-USE STUDIES ................................................. 4 2 METHODS AND MATERIALS. ........................................ 15 Study Area, Site, and Reach Selection Habitat, Chemical, and Fish Community Assessment Basin Assessment Data Analyses 3 RESULTS .......................................................... 23 Habitat, Chemical, and Fish Community Assessment Basin Assessment Multivariate analysis Relation of environmental parameters to fish communities iii 4 DISCUSSION ....................................................... 36 WORKS CITED ..................................................... 94 VITA............................................................. 100 IV LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Historical species list offish collected in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain Ecoregion....................................................... 43 2 Location of the thirty-six fish community sampling sites, May to August 1998 .. ................................................................ 47 3 Description of land-use parameters that were calculated for thirty-six drainage basins sampled in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain Ecoregion, 1998 ........... 48 4 Twenty fish community metrics to be calculated using the fish community data from thirty sites in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain Ecoregion................ 50 5 Environmental parameters groups, subgroups, specific parameters, and unit of measures ........................................................ 51 6 Average