dc.contributor.author	Salter, John Shannon, Jr.
dc.coverage.spatial	United States -- Georgia	en_US
dc.coverage.temporal	2012-2013	en_US
dc.date.accessioned	2015-05-11T19:34:05Z
dc.date.available	2015-05-11T19:34:05Z
dc.date.issued	2013-07
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10428/1925
dc.description.abstract	Aquatic vegetation provides multiple resources such as shelter, food, and breeding habitats for many fish species. Fishes that occupy habitats with similar ecological characteristics are described as fish assemblages. However, not all vegetation offers the same set of resources. Therefore, I hypothesize not all fish assemblages that occupy aquatic vegetation are identical. Based on vegetated structure complexity in the water column, I predicted that submergent vegetation would contain the most fish diversity. This study involved an analysis of fish assemblages at 18 vegetated lentic sites in south Georgia. Total area, percent vegetated surface area coverage, water volume, and major plant species as well as other physicochemical data were recorded for each locality. Comparative analysis of each location was conducted using, one-way ANOVA, Freidman test, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and linear regression analyses. Thirty-two fish species were collected across all sites, and significant differences in fish assemblages existed between sites. No defining factors related to assemblage structure were identified. PCA identified Gambusia holbrooki, Leptolucania ommata, Elassoma okefenokee, and Lepomis macrochirus as principal species defining fish assemblage structure. From these results, three fish subguilds of aquatic vegetation were identified.	en_US
dc.description.tableofcontents	I. INTRODUCTION - 1 \| The Role of Aquatic Vegetation - 2 \| Other Factors’ Effects on Fish Fauna - 5 \| Significance - 8 \| Species of Interest - 8 \| II. METHODS - 10 \| Field Data - 10 \| Water Chemistry - 12 \| Statistical Methods - 13 \| III. RESULTS - 14 \| IV. DISCUSSION - 30 \| Impact of Drought - 30 \| Species Diversity - 31 \| REFERENCES - 34 \| APPENDIX A: Supplemental Figures - 47 \| APPENDIX B: Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee Approval - 56 \|	en_US
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US
dc.subject	Biology	en_US
dc.subject	Georgia	en_US
dc.subject	Fish Assemblages	en_US
dc.subject	Vegetated Microhabitats	en_US
dc.title	Fish Assemblage Structure in Lentic Vegetated Microhabitat in South Georgia	en_US
dc.type	Thesis	en_US
dc.contributor.department	Department of Biology of the College of Arts and Sciences	en_US
dc.description.advisor	Bechler, David L.
dc.description.committee	Elder, John F.
dc.description.committee	Waters, Matthew N
dc.description.committee	Albanese, Brett W.
dc.description.degree	M.S.	en_US
dc.description.major	Biology	en_US