Seasonal nekton assemblages in a flooded coastal freshwater marsh, Southwest Louisiana, USA

Sung-Ryong Kang, Sammy L. King

School of Renewable Natural Resources, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Baton Rouge, USA.
U.S. Geological Survey, Louisiana Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, School of Renewable Natural Resources, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Baton Rouge, USA.

DOI: 10.4236/oje.2013.32014                

Abstract

Marsh flooding and drying may be key factors affecting seasonal nekton distribution and density because habitat connectivity and water depth can impact nekton accessibility to the marsh surface. Recent studies have characterized freshwater nekton assemblages in marsh ponds; however, a paucity of information exists on the nekton assemblages in freshwater emergent marshes. The principal objectives of this study are to characterize the seasonal nekton assemblage in a freshwater emergent marsh and compare nekton species composition, density, and biomass to that of freshwater marsh ponds. We hypothesize that 1) freshwater emergent marsh has lower taxa richness than freshwater marsh ponds; and 2) freshwater emergent marsh has a lower seasonal density and biomass than freshwater marsh ponds. Mosquitofish Gambusia affinis and least killifish Heterandria formosa were abundant species in both habitats while some abundant species (e.g., banded pygmy sunfish Elassoma zonatum) in freshwater ponds were absent in freshwater emergent marsh. Our data did not support our first and second hypotheses because taxa richness, seasonal density and biomass between freshwater emergent marsh and ponds did not statistically differ. However, freshwater emergent marsh was dry during the summer months and thus supports no fish species during this period. Additional long-term research on the effects of flow regime in the freshwater marsh on nekton assemblages would potentially improve our understanding of nekton habitat requirements.

Keywords

Freshwater Emergent Marsh; Freshwater Pond; Nekton Assemblage; Hydrologic Connection

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Remmert, H. (1983) Studies and thoughts about the zonation along the rocky shores of the Baltic. Zoologica, 22, 121-125.
[2]	Martino, E.J. and Able, K.W. (2003) Fish assemblages across the marine to low salinity transition zone of a temperate estuary. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 56, 969-987. doi:10.1016/S0272-7714(02)00305-0
[3]	Whoriskey, F.G. and Fitzgerald, G.J. (1989) Breeding-season habitat use by sticklebacks (Pisces: Gasterosteidae) at Isle Verte, Quebec. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 67, 2126-2130. doi:10.1139/z89-302
[4]	Szedlmayer, S.T. and Able, K.W. (1993) Ultrasonic telemetry of age-0 summer flounder, Paralichthys dentatus, movements in a southern New Jersey estuary. Copeia, 1993, 728-736. doi:10.2307/1447234
[5]	Lake, P.S. (2003) Ecological effects of perturbation by drought in flowing waters. Freshwater Biology, 46, 1161-1172. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2427.2003.01086.x
[6]	Humphries, P. and Baldwin, D.S. (2003) Drought and aquatic ecosystem: An introduction. Freshwater Biology, 48, 1141-1146. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2427.2003.01092.x
[7]	Minello, T.J., Rozas, L.P. and Baker, R. (2012) Geographic variability in salt marsh flooding patterns may affect nursery value for fishery species. Estuaries and Coasts, 35, 501-514. doi:10.1007/s12237-011-9463-x
[8]	Welcomme, R.L. (1985) River fisheries. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 262.
[9]	Junk, W.J., Bayley, P.B. and Sparks, R.E. (1989) The flood-pulse concept in river-floodplain systems. In: Dodge, D.P., Ed., Proceedings of the International Large River Symposium (LARS), Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences Special Publication 106, NRC research press, Ottawa, 110-127.
[10]	Copp, G.H. (1990) Effect of regulation on 0+ fish recruitment in the Great Ouse, a lowland river. Regulated Rivers: Research and Management, 5, 251-163. doi:10.1002/rrr.3450050306
[11]	Sparks, R.E. (1995) Need for ecosystem management of large rivers and floodplains. BioScience, 45, 168-182. doi:10.2307/1312556
[12]	Humphries, P., King, A.J. and Koehn, J.D. (1999) Fish, flows and floodplains: Links between freshwater fishes and their environment in the Murray-Darling River system, Australia. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 56, 129- 151. doi:10.1023/A:1007536009916
[13]	Bunn, S.E. and Arthington, A.H. (2002) Basic principles and ecological consequences of altered flow regimes for aquatic biodiversity. Environmental Management, 30, 492-507. doi:10.1007/s00267-002-2737-0
[14]	Rozas, L.P. and Minello, T.J. (1999) Effects of structural marsh management on fishery species and other nekton before and during a spring drawdown. Wetlands Ecology and Management, 7, 121-139. doi:10.1023/A:1008434727703
[15]	Dunson, W.A., Friacano, P. and Sadinski, W.J. (1993) Variation in tolerance to abiotic stresses among sympatric salt marsh fish. Wetlands, 13, 16-24. doi:10.1007/BF03160861
[16]	Rowe, C.L. and Dunson, W.A. (1995) Individual and interactive effects of salinity and initial fish density on a salt marsh assemblage. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 128, 271-278. doi:10.3354/meps128271
[17]	Gascon, S., Boix, D., Sala, J. and Quintana, X.D. (2008) Relation between macroinvertebrate life strategies and habitat traits in Mediterranean salt marsh ponds (Emporda wetlands, NE Iberian Peninsula). Hydrobiologia, 597, 71-83. doi:10.1007/s10750-007-9215-x
[18]	McKinsey, D.M. and Chapman, L.J. (1998) Dissolved oxygen and fish distribution in a Florida spring. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 53, 211-223. doi:10.1023/A:1007497503542
[19]	Hubbs, C. (1971) Competition and isolation mechanisms in the Gambusia affinis X G. heterochir hydrid swarm. Texas Memorial Museum Bulletin, 19, 1-46.
[20]	Cattrijsse, A., Makwaia, E.S., Dankwa, H.R., Hamerlynck, O. and Hemminga, M.A. (1994) Nekton communities of an intertidal creek of a European estuarine brackish marsh. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 109, 195-208. doi:10.3354/meps109195
[21]	Hampel, H. (2003) Factors influencing the habitat value of tidal marshes for nekton in the Westerschelde estuary. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Gent, Belgium.
[22]	Cattrijsse, A. and Hampel, H. (2006) European intertidal marshes: A review of their habitat functioning and value for aquatic organisms. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 324, 293-307. doi:10.3354/meps324293
[23]	La Peyre, M.K., Gossman, B. and Nyman, J.A. (2007) Assessing functional equivalency of nekton habitat in enhanced habitats: Comparison of terraced and unterraced marsh ponds. Estuaries and Coasts, 30, 526-536. doi:10.1007/BF03036518
[24]	Kang, S.R. and King, S.L. (2013) Effects of hydrologic connectivity and environmental variables on nekton assemblage in a coastal marsh system. Wetlands, 33, 321-334 doi:10.1007/s13157-013-0386-0
[25]	Chabreck, R.H. and Nyman, J.A. (2005) Management of coastal wetlands. In: Braun, C.E., Ed., Techniques for Wildlife Investigations and Management, The Wildlife Society, Bethesda, 839-860.
[26]	Visser, J.M., Sasser, C.E., Chabreck, R.H. and Linscombe, R.G. (1998) Marsh vegetation types of the Mississippi river deltaic plain. Estuaries, 21, 818-828. doi:10.2307/1353283
[27]	Rozas, L.P. and Minello, T.J. (2010) Nekton density patterns in tidal ponds and adjacent wetlands related to pond size and salinity. Estuaries and Coasts, 33, 652-667. doi:10.1007/s12237-009-9258-5
[28]	Kushlan, J.A. (1981) Sampling characteristics of enclosure fish traps. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 110, 557-562. doi:10.1577/1548-8659(1981)110<557:SCOEFT>2.0.CO;2
[29]	Fernandes, R., Gomes, L.C., Pelicice, F.M. and Agostinho, A.A. (2009) Temporal organization of fish assemblages in floodplain lagoons: The role of hydrological connectivity. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 85, 99-108. doi:10.1007/s10641-009-9466-7
[30]	Minello, T.J. (1999) Nekton densities in shallow estuarine habitats of Texas and Louisiana and the identification of essential fish habitat. American Fisheries Society Symposium, 22, 43-75.
[31]	Olden, J.D., Poff, N.L. and Bestgen, K.R. (2006) Life-history strategies predict fish invasions and extirpations in the Colorado River basin. Ecological Monographs, 76, 25-40. doi:10.1890/05-0330
[32]	Douglas, N.H. (1974) Freshwater fishes of Louisiana. Claitor’s Publishing Division, Baton Rouge.
[33]	Chervinski, J. (1983) Salinity tolerance of the mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis (Baird and Girard). Journal of Fish Biology, 22, 9-11. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8649.1983.tb04720.x
[34]	Shute, J.R. (1980) Fundulus chrystotus, Golden topminnow. In: Lee, D.S., Gilbert, C.R., Hocutt, C.H., Jenkins, R.E., McAllister, D.E. and Stauffer J.R. Atlas of North American Freshwater Fishes, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences Publication, Raleigh, 510.
[35]	Moriarty, L.J. and Winemiller, K.O. (1997). Spatial and temporal variation in fish assemblage structure in Willage Creek, Hardin County Texas. Texas Journal of Science, 49, 85-110.
[36]	Castellanos, D.L. and Rozas, L.P. (2001) Nekton use of submerged aquatic vegetation, marsh, and shallow unvegetated bottom in the Atchafalaya River delta, a Louisiana tidal freshwater ecosystem. Estuaries, 24, 184-197. doi:10.2307/1352943
[37]	Lytle, D.A. and Poff, N.L. (2004) Adaptation to natural flow regimes. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 19, 94-100. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2003.10.002
[38]	Poff, N.L., Allan, J.D., Bain, M.B., Karr, J.R., Prestegaard, K.L., Richter, B.D., Sparks, R.E. and Stromberg, J.C. (1997) The natural flow regime. BioScience, 47, 769-784. doi:10.2307/1313099
[39]	Hart, D.D. and Finelli, C.M. (1999) Physical-biological coupling in streams: The pervasive effects of flow on benthic organisms. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 30, 363-395. doi:10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.30.1.363