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1140971244 O5LG Cop: Ve Final Report The Fishes of Champaign County F-76-R L. Osborne, P. Bayyliesyy, D. Dowling,g R. Larimore, C. Nixon, J. Peterson, D. Szafoni and D. Wood Center for Aquatic Ecology iinois Natural History Survey 607 IE. Peabody Dr. Charnipaign, (. 61820 March 1991 Final Report The Fishes of Champaign County F-76-R L. Osborne, P. Bayley, D. Dowling, R. Larimore, C. Nixon, J. Peterson, D. Szafoni and D. Wood Center for Aquatic Ecology Illinois Natural History Survey 607 E. Peabody Dr. Champaign, IL 61820 March 1991 Final Report The Fishes of Champaign County F-76-R L. Osborne, P. Bayley, D. Dowling, R. Larimore, C. Nixon, J. Peterson, D. Szafoni and D. Wood Center for Aquatic Ecology Illinois Natural History Survey 607 E. Peabody Dr. Champaign, IL 61820 March 1991 THE FISHES OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY Final Report F-76-R by L. Osborne, P. Bayley, D. Dowling, R. Larimore C. Nixon, J. Peterson, D. Szafoni, and D. Wood March 1991 Lewis L. Osborne, Ph.D. David P. Philipp, Director Aquatic Ecologist Center for Aquatcc Ecology Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2021 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign https://archive.org/details/fishesofchampaigOOosbo Research project F-76-R, The Fishes of Champaign County, was conducted with funding from the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act (Dingell-Johnson Program) - a cooperative program between the states and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The project is sponsored by the Illinois Department of Conservation. The form, content, and interpretations of data are the responsibility of the illinois Natural History Survey and the University of Illinois, and not of the illinois Department of Conservation or other cooperating agencies/organizations. : 'o a> wte aJ Aen 4 rs oh . Gh a Sait oe ie nh | | a ha : . . ” I i awit : 1 M, e, : bts bs Sag oe. neee e . | a.a ryee: ‘iirm ea e ayb ul oe Ke es 0 “, o4 ‘4 caner ea., t:h ee 7 Saey : 5 : ? D4 “<0 7 yee > ; +f ye te ie Mae a ' v u 7 “cana IGS -F oe f EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Stream fishes in the six drainage basins of Champaign County, Illinois were quantitatively sampled from June 1987 through October, 1988. Species richness and composition were compared to three historical fish surveys that also sampled the same locations between the late 1890's through 1960 at approximately a thirty year interval. Data on land use, water quality, physical habitat, benthic macroinvertebrate abundance, crayfish distribution and abundance and prey utilization of several sportfish were also assessed and related to the abundance and distribution of sport fish populations in an attempt to identify limiting factors. The land use/cover conditions in Champaign County during the 1950's were quantified and compared to those that existed during the present survey in an attempt to identify potential land use changes that may be associated with the distribution and abundance of sportfish populations. A total of 81 independent fish taxa from unrepeated samples were used for comparison among all four surveys (three historical surveys and present survey). We found that species richness of the fish communities was remarkably consistent among surveys. Despite this consistency, substantial variation occurred in the composition of fishes among surveys. General increases in percentage occurrence through time were noted for blackstripe topminnow, bluegill, common carp, grass pickerel, green sunfish, largemouth/spotted bass, longear sunfish, striped shiner, johnny darter, and silverjaw minnow. Biomass of sportfish, including largemouth bass, spotted bass, smallmouth bass, rock bass, channel catfish, and grass pickerel, increased during the last 30 years in Champaign County streams, but were still low compared to other streams in Illinois. Historical evidence indicates that poor water quality may hv"* ~* >> . ~ yor limiting factor to sportfish in the 1950's. Results from the present survey inuicute inact water quality has probably improved to sore extent during the past 30 years, and that physical habitat - currently limits the distribution and abundance of most sportfish in Champaign County. The limiting physical habitat is a function of land use practices associated with agriculture, particularly channelization and channel maintenance for drainage. Reaches where water quality remains limiting also appear to be associated with non point source contamination associated with agricultural practices, particularly fertlizer application. The negative association between the density and biomass of sportfish and important prey items such as crayfish further suggested that food may be limiting the abundance of sportfish in some areas. We also examined the impacts of the 1988 drought on fish, their prey, and their habitat and the recovery process at three previously desiccated stream reaches through 1990. No differences were found in the total densities and biomass of macroinvertebrates at non- desiccated stations attributable to the drought. Total losses were observed in desiccated reaches. Significant reductions in the densities ofc rayfish in both desiccated and undesiccated reaches were observed. Analyses suggest that macroinvertebrate community structure did not recover by the end of 1989 to pre-drought conditions at two of three study sites that were desiccated during the drought. Preliminary analyses of samples collected in 1989 and 1990 also indicated that fish recovered rapidly from this single ‘pulse’ disturbance when more typical conditions returned and displayed a colonization process similar to that which normally occurs as fish move upstream to spawn or disperse from winter habitats. A model was developed to estimate the loss of fish due to the drought in the Salt Fork basin. We estimated that 17% of the normal summer fish biomass (90 tons) was lost in this basin during the drought of 1988. This provides a conservative estimate of the loss that would be expected if continuous water extraction were permitted and were to become widespread during the summer months. TABLE OF CONTENTS AGRNOWEPEDGEMNEEG we. Ate Mateccetsacak<c cork raisins fate bean nat pears h- Rea laaan iv STUD.Y 41 OTE ISHES: OP*CHAIMPAIGN COUND Y aioe can: canta A bantanstive © Apebians l INTRODUCTIONS waste, snansrcele niger: lanes eo tee ae et, RB, PB RONG 1 OPTS PO PORTE COPY LS cnet ter ete ce nec eat Ed tN cla I JOB [01.1 FISH COMMUNITIES) scioiity Reteetos Sete A Oe ER, PE RE 2 TI PROD RIOIN cect err ee ee eke ee AR a a aa 2 7 150 We( G) BS iene len ake r any Meg NNER RR ary! Aorta Aiea cb sare Manly soit Neng 2 ja eras ohG ed tobvy ineB d BDR e OlU fo ba)( 2)n er at naa Ay es Senin gen tiene. eee 3 Presence/A bsencentiaihysnen cite orn Bett A eae 2 ee 3 Quantitative comparisons between 1959 and this study...................5 20 JOB 101.2 LAND-USE:AND: HABITAT sru:2 cece. Jae. ORT, Bos ees 29 EN TRODU GION tee tects teens ene ee te ee ee Pe aR ea ve METHODS »c xieeseUPeR .pAReEi aMaR eeLOn,e AeTERs P.OT Ae 26 Greneral tL. 0d peS Os. oes ee eee ne ee, LCE eae Eee2 6 Buffer:Analysis vests) BauaT een SIRs Cee. eet ee SIL cams ene 29 PRES LER Ss eae tie cate es soe es Gace eda ee te te ea, de ee 34 Among, Drainage: Basinsr bes! es won 8.2 I, ON ES, 34 WUT DSU LLCTS cee ceree ee ees ea ee ee ae foe a a 39 PH¥S1GO-GHEMIGA LaiH ABETATHT a, BARR VENTA OO, Raion 43 METHOD Serena a ee de oe te ik RC sree ra Tea et Si ice 43 Habitat Assessment tes scngee Se ecaen ato een ema ett ee eee 43 Water Chemistry ou. :/c25 See Ge chtA ue. ater trcies ca pe amereaen ues eR 44 Fishthabitatratin gh Sane WA re eee I Ses eee eee 44 Wit semis bay itty «a sluss entel ides vue etmnnrcclonh os aaet ern etn. 44. Shore water depth, bank undercut, and vegetative overhang...... 44 Discarhe €.t..5,05n sees PRO tes tm AMt atch enagteaes tan tity OuiG 44 olF ANSCCHCIASSINCAGOM. arenes en oe Meen oes trance terres eres an 45 Bank vegetative stability and streamside covet................0.0055 45 Channelveretatlve™ COVED mrt, Sette eccr eee meeee 45 CAaNnODY,,..x- derrerrgun slates A Laerks bresgendtiam BW - nieod a see 46 RFOtCORSHaOING Rise, Meret: oe emer este Meco: settee ore nen ee 46 Substrate type......... «climes eatreus2 et0.en nub beerazabiw are 46 SuDSttate ScOMpActiOne( pene raDlUItY ceeree erir e ens 46