Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Oklahoma
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Stream ecosystems are one of the most imperiled systems due to the impacts of many stressors including dewatering, land conversion, channelization, fragmentation, introduction of non-native species, and impoundment. The impact of multiple stressors are not well characterized in intermittent streams due to the lack of broad scale data (such as hydrologic or temperature data). Diverse assemblages of fish occupy intermittent streams and are threatened by the multiple stressors. We characterized the hydrologic and temperature regimes of intermittent streams across a gradient of land-use to assess the role of multiple stressors in driving stream fish community structure in the Ouachita highlands. This region is home to many endemic species and species of conservation concern. This research will inform decisions about management of species of conservation concern by determining how multiple stressors driving the distribution of species in this region.