Loading...
Go with the No-Flow: How Drought has Shaped Water Chemistry and Fish Communities in Lentic and Lotic Rivers in the Lake Champlain Basin
Journal Title
Readers/Advisors
Journal Title
Term and Year
Fall 2025
Publication Date
2025-12-11
Book Title
Publication Volume
Publication Issue
Publication Begin
Publication End
Number of pages
Files
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Abstract
Lotic habitats often contain pool/riffle areas, with pools providing deeper, slower water and riffles affording shallow, fast-flowing, and highly oxygenated conditions. Lentic reaches, such as above-dam segments, are characterized by still water, organic substrates, and greater thermal stability. Downstream lotic reaches are faster flowing and experience dynamic physical conditions. During a period of historic drought in Clinton County, New York, these habitat differences became more pronounced as streamflow declined across waterbodies. In fall 2025, I compared fish community composition and abundance patterns, as well as site conditions, in the dammed Salmon River and free-flowing Little Chazy River. Fish surveys were performed using a mixed approach of live trapping (e.g., minnow and crab) and electrofishing. Water quality (e.g., pH, conductivity, and stream velocity) metrics were compared. The fish community of the lentic Salmon River dammed site was dominated by pumpkinseed sunfish (Lepomis gibbosus) and largemouth bass (Micropterus nigricans), while the lotic site was dominated by rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris). The Little Chazy pool/riffle complex was dominated by bluegill sunfish (L. macrochirus) when trapped with minnow and crab traps as compared to blacknose dace (Rhinichthys atratulus) and brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) when electrofished. When minnow trapping, fish abundance at the Little Chazy pool/riffle complex was double that of the Salmon River sites which had similar low abundances, potentially explained by drought conditions. Both conductivity (192.3 µS/cm) and pH (7.95) were higher at the Salmon River lotic site as compared to the lentic dam and Little Chazy pool and riffle sites. Additionally, flow rates differed sharply across habitats, with low flow at the Little Chazy River pool/riffles and much higher flow at the Salmon River lotic site. These hydrologic differences likely contributed to the variation in fish abundance, diversity, and disease occurrence across the three sampling locations. Our findings emphasize the need to consider trapping methods before performing surveys, as trap type can misrepresent community composition. Continued surveillance of water chemistry, streamflow, and species composition can help local managers detect early signs of ecological stress and guide interventions that preserve both biodiversity and ecosystem health in Clinton County’s rivers.