Restoration of Delta Streams: A Case History and Conceptual Model

Abstract : Delta streams, forming in the floodplains of large river systems, are widespread throughout the United States. Delta streams are most prevalent in the Mississippi Embayment, also referred to as the lower Mississippi River Basin. The alluvial flood-plain deposits are typically rich in organic material. Consequently, most delta streams have been altered through intense agricultural activities and flood control measures. Low water, excessive sedimentation in smaller delta streams, and the accumulation of pesticides such as DDT are the consequences of these anthropogenic disturbances resulting in dominance of tolerant fish species. Characteristics of tolerant fish assemblages include adaptations to low dissolved oxygen and high pulses of suspended solids, no direct requirements for clean, firm substrates for spawning, and ability to live in shallow, slackwater pools for extended periods. Although degraded delta streams are prevalent in the United States, attempts have been made to restore habitat conditions as part of ecosystem restoration or mitigation of flood control projects.

[1]  C. F. Rabeni,et al.  Effects of siltation on stream fishes and the potential mitigating role of the buffering riparian zone , 1995, Hydrobiologia.

[2]  W. J. Matthews,et al.  Fish Faunal Structure in an Ozark Stream: Stability, Persistence and a Catastrophic Flood , 1986 .

[3]  B. Vondracek,et al.  Effects of Local Land Use on Physical Habitat, Benthic Macroinvertebrates, and Fish in the Whitewater River, Minnesota, USA , 2001, Environmental management.

[4]  I. Schlosser.  Critical landscape attributes that influence fish population dynamics in headwater streams , 1995, Hydrobiologia.

[5]  Robert W. Pennak,et al.  Fresh-Water Invertebrates of the United States , 1953 .

[6]  G. Meffe,et al.  Persistence and Stability of Fish and Invertebrate Assemblages in a Repeatedly Disturbed Sonoran Desert Stream , 1987 .

[7]  J C Fischenich,et al.  Design recommendations for riparian corridors and vegetated buffer strips , 2000 .

[8]  J. Ludwig,et al.  Statistical ecology: a primer on methods & computing , 1988 .

[9]  D. Jester.  The Fishes of Oklahoma, Their Gross Habitats, and Their Tolerance of Degradation in Water Quality and Habitat , 1992 .

[10]  Larry MacDonnell,et al.  River restoration , 2005 .

[11]  J. B. Wallace,et al.  Influence of wood on invertebrate communities in streams and rivers , 2010 .

[12]  J. Lyons,et al.  Development and Evaluation of a Habitat Rating System for Low‐Gradient Wisconsin Streams , 1998 .

[13]  A. Magurran.  Ecological Diversity and Its Measurement , 1988, Springer Netherlands.

[14]  David M. Raup,et al.  Taxonomic diversity estimation using rarefaction , 1975, Paleobiology.

[15]  J. C. Tipper.  Rarefaction and rarefiction—the use and abuse of a method in paleoecology , 1979, Paleobiology.