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Responses of fish communities to longitudinal thermal gradients in coldwater, lake outflow streams

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Abstract

Longitudinal water temperature gradients in streams are widespread and are associated with changes in fish community structure. A major cause of these changes is variation in the thermal tolerances and preferences of coldwater, coolwater, and warmwater fish species. Much less is known about water temperature gradients in lake outflow coldwater streams and associated variation in fish communities. Our main objective was to assess longitudinal temperature gradients in lake outflow streams and to measure the corresponding variation in fish community structure. We quantified temperature gradients and the fish communities in two lake outflow streams in central Wisconsin from June through October 2019. We measured longitudinal water temperature gradients spanning up to 6 °C or more during the summer but the gradients weakened in late summer and were not present in autumn. Warmwater and coolwater species such as rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris), bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus), and creek chub (Semotilus atromaculatus) were more common in reaches nearest to lake outflows in both streams. Coldwater species such as brown trout (Salmo trutta), brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), and mottled sculpin (Cottus bairdii) were more common in downstream reaches. Increasing water temperatures in lakes due to global climate change will likely increase the magnitude of longitudinal temperature gradients in coldwater streams that are fed by warmwater lakes, which will probably impact the distributions of coldwater fish species in these systems.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Jordan Borchardt, Kayla Holst, and Greg Adler for their assistance with the fish collection. The paper was improved by recommendations from two anonymous reviewers.

Funding

Funding support was provided by a Student-Faculty Collaborative Grant from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and a William Beck Memorial Scholarship to Nathan Nozzi from the Central Wisconsin Chapter of Trout Unlimited.

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  1. Department of Biology, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, 800 Algoma Blvd, Oshkosh, WI, 54901, USA

    Nathan Nozzi & Robert S. Stelzer

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  1. Nathan Nozzi
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Correspondence to Robert S. Stelzer.

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Fish were collected and, if necessary, euthanized, according to an IACUC protocol approved by the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.

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Nozzi, N., Stelzer, R.S. Responses of fish communities to longitudinal thermal gradients in coldwater, lake outflow streams. Environ Biol Fish 104, 1235–1249 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-021-01149-w

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