Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2007IN219B

Fish Assemblages of Shallow Inner Bend Habitats of the Wabash River During 30 Years of Human Impacts

Institute: Indiana
Year Established: 2007 Start Date: 2007-03-01 End Date: 2009-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $25,191 Total Non-Federal Funds: $57,104

Principal Investigators: Mark Pyron, Mark Pyron

Abstract: This project will demonstrate the effects of river hydrology on habitat quality to fishes, with a longterm goal for hydrologists and/or engineers to perform hydrological restoration that will enhance the quality of the river. Fish assemblages will be sampled at 17 reaches of the Wabash River where Gammon (1998) collected in 1977 and 1997. Identical collecting techniques will be used in 2007 to examine inner bend fish assemblages and delineate change in the fish assemblages over this 30-year interval. Expectations are changes in the fish assemblage of these inner bend habitats during the past 10 years that are likely in response to the altered river hydrology. The responses of the fish assemblages are predicted to include an upstream-downstream gradient. Detailed habitat quantification will allow testing for variation in the 2007 fish assemblages of inner bend habitats with among site variation in substrate and flow.