Temporal Variability Patterns and the Distributional Patterns of Stream Fishes

Abstract

The coefficients of variation of daily discharge and the logarithm of daily discharge were calculated from long term records in 15 river systems, including runoff—fed prairie rivers in Illinois and Missouri, groundwater— and spring—fed upland rivers in Southern Ohio, Southern Illinois and the Missouri Ozarks, and the snowmelt—fed Powder River in Wyoming. In almost all cases variability was lower in downstream sections. The patterns of temporal variability were consistent with the hydrology of the basins, with source of flow and size important determinants. Diversity patterns of fishes were tabulated for the same rivers from literature records. In all rivers, diversity increased rapidly from upstream to downstream sections, almost entirely the result of addition of new species with little replacement of the upstream fauna. Maximal species richness was usually in the lowest sections (order VI or greater). Headwater diversity was lowest in the rivers with the most variable headwaters, the increase in diversity downstream steepest for those rivers with the steepest decrease in variability, and the number of species in downstream sections was greater in rivers with more constant downstream sections. Longitudinal replacement rates were very low in all rivers studied, but were generally larger in the most temporally constant rivers. Literal replacement was moderate between small tributaries, but was low between major tributaries. The diversity gradients of individual feeding groups were similar to the gradient for all species, with an increase in richness from headwaters downstream in all groups with intermediate maxima sometimes seen. Piscivores showed consistently steeper diversity increases. These observations were related to hypotheses of factors controlling stream fish distributions. They are most consistent with hypotheses relating control to extermination—recolonization dynamics or the interspecific competition mediated by temporal variability and habitat structure.