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Long Island Creek Fish Inventory

Data was collected from Long Island Creek upstream from Jett Road on June 21, 2012. This site is a post restoration site where severe bank erosion, channeling, and limited vegetation previously dominated the landscapeWhy use fish? By analyzing the biodiversity of fish species present within the stream allows for analyzing of specific parameters such as Habitat alteration, flow regime modification, and changes in the trophic base of the stream biota that were previously overlooked. Advantages of using fish as biotic indicators include longer life histories providing an assessment of the long-term health of the stream and sensitivity to direct stresses such as point source and non-point source pollution, sedimentation, habitat loss, riparian zone1Analysis of Captured Fish

Using standard stream electrofish- shocking methods, 75 meters of stream were sampled. 85 individuals were successfully captured for the Index of Biotic Integrity, IBI in order to assess the streams health. Summary of Collected Fish Species

Index of Biotic Integrity

IBI results yielded a higher score than the previous years sampling. A total score of 30 was obtained inferring that the overall health of the stream is still poor.Fish Inventory Conclusions

Total abundance of fish species was observed to of decreased from the previous years study by twenty-four individuals.Most common species , Alabama Hog-sucker and the Redbreast sunfish are considered a tolerant species: fish community currently present within the stream tolerates a large range of environmental stream conditionsSeveral insectivore species were observed such as the Southern studfish, Redbreast sunfish, Bluegill sunfish, and Alabama Hog-sucker.