Fish assemblages in streams subject to anthropogenic disturbances along the natchez trace parkway, Mississippi, USA

A three-year study (July 2000 - June 2003) of fish assemblages was conducted in four tributaries of the Big Black River: Big Bywy, Little Bywy, Middle Bywy and McCurtain creeks that cross the Natchez Trace Parkway, Choctaw County, Mississippi, USA. Little Bywy and Middle Bywy creeks were within watersheds influenced by the lignite mining. Big Bywy and Middle Bywy creeks were historically impacted by channelisation. McCurtain Creek was chosen as a reference (control) stream. Fish were collected using a portable backpack electrofishing unit (Smith-Root Inc., Washington, USA). Insectivorous fish dominated all of the streams. There were no pronounced differences in relative abundances of fishes among the streams (P > 0.05) but fish assemblages fluctuated seasonally. Although there were some differences among streams with regard to individual species, channelisation and lignite mining had no discernable adverse effects on functional components of fish assemblages suggesting that fishes in these systems are euryceous fluvial generalist species adapted to the variable environments of small stream ecosystems.