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Title: INFLUENCE OF FORESTRY BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON FISH COMMUNITIES IN FIRST-ORDER STREAMS IN NORTH-CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI

Author
item Smiley, Peter - Rocky
item DIBBLE, ERIC - MISSISSIPPI STATE
item SCHOENHOLTZ, STEPHEN - OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/1/2005
Publication Date: 7/8/2005
Citation: Smiley, P.C., Dibble, E.D., Schoenholtz, S.H. 2005. Influence of forestry best management practices on fish communities in first-order streams in north-central mississippi. Meeting oral presentation.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Forestry best management practices (BMPs) have been designed to minimize the impacts of timber harvesting and other forestry operations on water quality. Previous studies evaluating the influence of forestry BMPs on streams have focused on examining the physicochemical responses. Information on how forestry BMPs influence stream fish communities in Mississippi and other parts of the southeastern United States is lacking. We sampled fishes and physical habitat three times a year from Fall 1999 until Spring 2002 from fourteen streams within pine plantations of north-central Mississippi. Streams received one of three timber harvesting regimes: 1) reference - no timber harvesting or other forestry practices conducted in the watershed during the study; 2) BMP - clearcut timber harvesting conducted in the watershed with use of streamside management zones; and 3) clearcut – clearcut timber harvesting conducted in watershed without forestry BMPs. Additionally, fish and habitat sampling was conducted before implementation of timber harvesting regimes and one and two years after timber harvesting. Two factor repeated measures ANOVAs indicated that the pattern of mean fish species richness, evenness, and abundance among sampling periods did not differ among timber harvesting regimes. An indirect gradient analysis found that fish communities were more strongly correlated with instream habitat variables that exhibited temporal variation, than logging intensity in the watershed. Our results suggest that forestry best management practices that prevent changes in hydrology, canopy cover, and water temperature will assist with reducing the impacts of timber harvesting on fish communities in first-order streams within pine plantations in north-central Mississippi.