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Goldstein, R.M., Stauffer, J.C., Larson, P.R., Lorenz, D.L., 1996,
Relation of Physical and Chemical Characteristiscs of Streams to Fish
Communities in the Red River of the North Basin, Minnesota and North Dakota,
1993-95: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report
96-4227, 57p.
Abstract
Fish community composition was determined at 33 reaches (average length 150 meters) at 22 sites in the Red
River of the North Basin during 1994. Sites were selected to represent a range of stream sizes and ecoregions within
the basin. Physical and chemical characteristics (classified in data sets of instream habitat, terrestrial habitat,
hydrology, and water quality) were determined for various sites for periods ranging from two to 48 years. Instream
habitat measurements were made from 1993 through 1995 for 31 reaches at 19 sites. Terrestrial habitat measures of
land use/land cover, soils, and riparian zones were determined from a geographical information system coverage for
23 reaches at 14 sites. The geographical information system coverage used data from aerial photographs taken from
1990 and 1991, National Wetlands Inventory data, soils maps from the Natural Resource Conservation Service, and
data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture soils data base. Water chemistry data were collected from 14 sites in the
basin from 1993 through 1994. Hydrologic variability was determined from U.S. Geological Survey gaging records.
Correlation analysis, cluster analysis, and principal components analysis were used to determine representative
variables which accounted for the most variation in each data set. The representative variables and the fish
community data were analyzed with canonical correspondence analysis to determine the relative effect of each source
of environmental influence on fish community composition. Instream habitat, terrestrial habitat, and hydrologic
variability were analyzed together. Water chemistry data were analyzed separately due to a lack of corresponding
sites.
Within the instream habitat data set, measures of habitat volume (channel width and depth) and habitat diversity
were most significant in explaining the variability of the fish communities. The amount of nonagricultural land and
riparian zone integrity from the terrestrial habitat data set were also useful in explaining fish community composition.
Variability of mean monthly discharge and the frequency of high and low discharge events during the three years
prior to fish sampling were the most influential of the hydrologic variables.The first two axes of the canonical
correspondence analysis accounted for 43.3 percent of the variation in the fish community and 52.5 percent of the
variation in the environmental-species relation. Water-quality indicators such as the percent of fine material in
suspended sediment, minimum dissolved oxygen concentrations, minimum concentrations of dissolved organic
carbon, and the range of concentrations of major ions and nutrients were the variables that were most important in the
canonical correspondence analysis of water-quality data with fish. No single environmental variable or data set
appeared to be more important than another in explaining variation in the fish community. The environmental factors
affecting the fish communities of the Red River of the North are interrelated. For the most part, instream
environmental conditions (instream habitat, hydrology, and water chemistry) appear to be more important in
explaining variability in fish community composition than factors related to the agricultural nature of the basin.
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U.S. Geological Survey