dc.contributor.author	Wright, Charles Wilson
dc.date.accessioned	2013-08-13T17:09:40Z
dc.date.available	2013-08-13T17:09:40Z
dc.date.issued	2013-08-13
dc.identifier.citation	Wright, Charles Wilson. "An Assessment of the Anthropogenic Affect of Bridges on Fish and Macroinvertebrate Assemblages." Master's thesis, Valdosta State University, 2013. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10428/1293.
dc.identifier.other	8D114B73-30DC-3984-452E-8F92174D60D1	UUID
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10428/1293
dc.description	A Thesis submitted to the Graduate School Valdosta State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in Biology in the Department of Biology of the College of Arts and Sciences July 2013	en_US
dc.description.abstract	Anthropogenic impacts such as bridge sites can greatly alter established streambed morphology and associated ecology. At bridge sites, streams are often channelized approaching the site and deep pools are created at the bridge site causing ecological disturbances of fish and invertebrate assemblages. However, restoring channels and reducing negative construction practices allows the return of natural habitats that are likely to include more sensitive species. Recent conservation studies have suggested that sites of anthropogenic origin may serve as potential habitats for reestablishment of populations following a drought event. This study examined fish and macroinvertebrate assemblages, and physiochemical factors associated with these assemblages at 14 bridge sites involving first through fourth order streams in the Suwannee River Basin of south Georgia. Fish assemblages were least diverse upstream of bridge sites, most diverse at bridge sites, and intermediate downstream of bridge sites. Macroinvertebrate assemblages did not exhibit as distinctive a pattern as did fish assemblages. Upstream macroinvertebrate assemblages were less diverse than bridge site and downstream assemblages, a pattern that was disrupted for the bridge site by third order stream data. The results from this study suggest that bridge sites, if properly engineered, can serve as valuable refuges for reestablishing fish and macroinvertebrate assemblages up and down stream after events such as the severe drought that impacted south Georgia in 2011.	en_US
dc.description.sponsorship	David L. Bechler, J. Mitchell Lockhart, Thomas J. Manning, Matthew N. Waters	en_US
dc.description.tableofcontents	I INTRODUCTION 1 -- Bridge Construction 1 -- Disturbance 2 -- Natural Streams 2 -- Purpose and Significance 3 -- II MATERIALS AND METHODS 5 -- Study Sites 5 -- Collection Protocol 6 -- Specimen Identification 9 -- Statistical Methods 10 -- III RESULTS 12 -- Descriptions and Data Sets 12 -- Macroinvertebrates 13 -- Fishes 15 -- Preparation of Data for Regression Analyses 17 -- DISCUSSION 27 -- REFERENCES 35 -- APPENDIX A: Tables 1-27 41 -- APPENDIX B: Figures 1-13 84 -- APPENDIX C: Animal Use Approval 92.
dc.format.extent	1 electronic document, 103 pages.
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US
dc.subject	United States--Suwannee River Watershed	en_US
dc.subject	Ecology	en_US
dc.subject	Droughts	en_US
dc.subject	Fishes--Effect of human beings on	en_US
dc.subject	Bridges	en_US
dc.subject	Fish populations	en_US
dc.subject	United States -- Georgia -- Rivers and Streams	en_US
dc.title	An Assessment of the Anthropogenic Affect of Bridges on Fish and Macroinvertebrate Assemblages	en_US
dc.type	Thesis	en_US