Influence of stream discharge on reproductive success of a prairie stream fish assemblage
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Abstract
This study has two main objectives. The first is to examine the influence of stream discharge on the reproductive success of a prairie-stream fish assemblage. The second is to objectively evaluate a number of current hypotheses conceming the nature of the relationship between reproduction and stream discharge. My research is presented in three main chapters. In the first (Chapter II), I describe the spawning periodicity of Arkansas River shiner, peppered chub, plains mirmow, flathead chub, and red shiner in the Canadian River, Texas and how it relates to patterns of stream discharge. Using this information, I present and objectively evaluate six models designed to test multiple hypotheses relating reproductive success for these species to stream discharge. Chapter III is a description of the temporal abundance of larval fish in the Canadian River. Six models relating stream discharge to larval fish abundance are similarly evaluated in this chapter. Finally, I describe how patterns of growth of age-0 Canadian River fishes are related to the date on which they hatched (Chapter IV).