Informations et ressources scientifiques
sur le développement des zones arides et semi-arides

Titre : The Influence of Land Use, Zoogeographic History, and Physical Habitat on Fish Community Diversity in the Lower Brazos Watershed

Auteur : Labay, Benjamin J.

Université de soutenance : Texas State University-San Marcos

Grade : Master of Science 2010

Descriptif
The present study examines spatial and temporal patterns of fish communities and environmental associations across the lower Brazos River watershed, a large WGS drainage, in an attempt to create a model for watershed assessment with regards to instream habitat and land use patterns. The objectives include : (1) quantifying habitat and land use gradients across local and landscape scales within the entire watershed and among its subbasins, (2) quantifying fish species occurrence and diversity patterns within the watershed and among its subbasins, (3) analyzing fish-environmental relationships to quantify variation explained by local habitat, geography, land use at multiple scales, and season, paying special attention to factoring out local habitat and geographic covariates of land use patterns. We attempt to utilize a hierarchical method for understanding species-environment association variability between site and subbasin in their response to local, regional, and temporal factors. In doing so, we provide a regional characterization of watershed diversity that emphasizes landscape-scale processes and allows insights relevant to conservation across watershed communities.

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