Space Industry and Business News  
Drought Length Influences Survival Of Fish In Stream Pools

In 2002, the researchers found more fish in pools in more open areas with a greater variety of stream beds, and they found fewer fish in larger, deeper pools. However, in 2003, when streams dried up sooner, the diversity of fish in a given pool was higher in larger pools, but there were fewer fish in deeper pools and pools with more substrate diversity.
by Staff Writers
Fayetteville, AR (SPX) Jan 29, 2008
University of Arkansas researchers have found that not all pools of water are equal from year to year when it comes to housing fish species during dry spells - a finding that becomes increasingly important during unusual and prolonged drought conditions. Dan Magoulick, associate professor of biological sciences in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, and graduate student Matt P. Dekar published their findings in the journal Ecology of Freshwater Fish.

"Drying in one year is not necessarily the same as drying in another year," Magoulick said. "The dynamics of these systems where you have regular drying has become increasingly important to understand because of global climate change."

Streams that dry up regularly in the summer turn out to be fairly rare and therefore not well studied. There are some ecosystems in Australia, South America and Africa that have such streams, and in the United States there is the Ozark and Boston Mountains region of the central United States, which is where Magoulick and Dekar performed this study.

The researchers examined isolated pools on Haw, Hurricane and Indian creeks in the Boston Mountains ecoregion in Arkansas. They captured and counted fish in 17 pools on the three creeks in 2002, and in 22 pools in 2003.

They used statistics to calculate the number of different species in a given pool, the total number of fish in a given pool and the density of central stonerollers and creek chub, two keystone fish species. They also measured the area, the depth, the canopy or openness and the substrate composition of the ground beneath the stream.

They found that the number and type of fish found in a given pool varied according to physical factors: However, the importance of these factors varied between years.

"We found that certain abiotic factors, such as pool depth and total volume, are important to the fish and the species diversity and density in the system," Magoulick said. "However, what happens one year isn't necessarily going to happen the next year."

In 2002, the researchers found more fish in pools in more open areas with a greater variety of stream beds, and they found fewer fish in larger, deeper pools. However, in 2003, when streams dried up sooner, the diversity of fish in a given pool was higher in larger pools, but there were fewer fish in deeper pools and pools with more substrate diversity.

"There are a lot of subtle and complex interactions when a stream dries," Magoulick said. The geology and hydrology of the stream plus the different types of species that live in it all affect the system.

The next step will be for the researchers to assemble models of the stream drying and population statistics to see if they can predict what will happen to the fish populations under different conditions - particularly changes in climate involving precipitation or temperature.

Related Links
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Farming Today - Suppliers and Technology



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


Gates donates 20 mln dollars to help rice farmers: institute
Manila (AFP) Jan 28, 2008
Bill Gates, the world's richest man, is to donate nearly 20 million dollars for research into helping rice farmers deal with global warming, the International Rice Research Institute said Monday.







  • Lenovo pitching PCs to wider French market
  • Internet changing consumer electronics world: Intel chief
  • Panasonic says to launch YouTube televisions
  • Taiwan handheld device shipments to surge: consultancy

  • TEXUS Research Rockets To Launch On 31 January And 7 February 2008
  • Russian space center to launch boosters
  • Antrix Launches Israeli Satellite Using Commercial PSLV Rocket
  • Russia To Launch Two Telecom Satellites On Jan 28 And Feb 10

  • China to build 97 new airports by 2020
  • Qatar Airways looking to natural gas fuel
  • EADS offers to build military, civilian aircraft in US
  • Purdue Wind Tunnel Key For Hypersonic Vehicles And Future Space Planes

  • SELEX Sistemi Integrati Contracts With EU For Command, Control And Information System
  • Schriever Tests Antenna And Prepares For AFSCN Connection
  • Northrop Grumman Team To Compete For US Army Aerial Common Sensor
  • JPEO Joint Tactical Radio System Announces Successful Momentum Of JTRS Program

  • Methane Storage Material Exceeds US DoE Goals
  • Odin Satellite Operations Prolonged
  • Russian Earth-Orbiting Satellites To Use US Microchips
  • Second Life cracks down on virtual world banking

  • Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems Names Carey VP For ISR Systems
  • NASA Selects Jaiwon Shin To Head Aeronautics Research
  • NGC Names James Culmo VP Of Airborne Early Warning And Battle Management Programs
  • Northrop Grumman Names Jeffrey Palombo To Head New Land Forces Division

  • New Radar Satellite Technique Sheds Light On Ocean Current Dynamics
  • SPACEHAB Subsidiary Wins NASA Orbiting Carbon Observatory Contract
  • Radical New Lab Fights Disease Using Satellites
  • SKorea decides to terminate satellite: space agency

  • Savi Technology And AVAANA Deliver RFID Supply Chain Solutions To India Market
  • First Deputy PM Ivanov Slams Agency Over Glonass Failings
  • Lockheed Martin-Built GPS Satellites Pass 75 Year Mark Of Combined On-Orbit Operations
  • GPS Devices And Systems Will Surpass 900 Million Unit Shipments By 2013

  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright Space.TV Corporation. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space.TV Corp on any Web page published or hosted by Space.TV Corp. Privacy Statement