Fish assemblage monitoring in Alberta’s Ells River: Baseline fish and habitat variability prior to major development
The collection of sentinel fish species for Environmental Effects Monitoring (EEM) has provided ancillary fish assemblage surveys on several tributaries in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR) of Alberta, Canada over the last decade. Using available, comparable data we investigated baseline fish as...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:b5068843af474b7984eb1184640ef90a 2023-05-15T15:26:05+02:00 Fish assemblage monitoring in Alberta’s Ells River: Baseline fish and habitat variability prior to major development A.G. Wynia G.R. Tetreault T.W. Clark J.L. Cunningham E.J. Ussery M.E. McMaster 2022-04-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02007 https://doaj.org/article/b5068843af474b7984eb1184640ef90a EN eng Elsevier http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989422000099 https://doaj.org/toc/2351-9894 2351-9894 doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02007 https://doaj.org/article/b5068843af474b7984eb1184640ef90a Global Ecology and Conservation, Vol 34, Iss , Pp e02007- (2022) Multivariate analysis Fish assemblage Oil Sands Biomonitoring Baseline Fish habitat Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02007 2022-12-31T16:18:00Z The collection of sentinel fish species for Environmental Effects Monitoring (EEM) has provided ancillary fish assemblage surveys on several tributaries in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR) of Alberta, Canada over the last decade. Using available, comparable data we investigated baseline fish assemblage variability along the Ells River, a tributary of the Athabasca River experiencing increasing proximity to natural bitumen deposits and proposed mining development as it approaches confluence with the mainstem Athabasca. Transect-based electrofishing data from four sites surveyed in September 2013, 2014 and 2018 showed significant spatiotemporal variability in assemblages, where spatial variability was greatest in 2013 and temporal variability was observed in assemblages both upstream (2013–2014) and downstream (2014–2018) of proposed development. Habitat assessments in 2018 revealed significant relationships among pH, algae cover and site slope with fish assemblages of the same year. Due to the complementary nature of assemblage surveys, data challenges (changing methodologies, sampling effort, and limited ancillary physiochemical data) have presented limitations to the multivariate approach applied in the study. Moving forward, employing consistent methods for fish collections and fine-scale habitat assessments will improve the ability to correlate assemblage variability with changes in the physical environment. Ultimately, this will aid in developing potential triggers of change that may be attributed to or confound adjacent, expanding Oil Sands activities. These findings will also inform monitoring programs on the use of fish assemblages as indicators of change, potentially providing an alternative to existing biomonitoring approaches in small streams with small fish populations. Article in Journal/Newspaper Athabasca River Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Athabasca River Canada Ells River ENVELOPE(-111.669,-111.669,57.300,57.300) Global Ecology and Conservation 34 e02007 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Multivariate analysis Fish assemblage Oil Sands Biomonitoring Baseline Fish habitat Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
Multivariate analysis Fish assemblage Oil Sands Biomonitoring Baseline Fish habitat Ecology QH540-549.5 A.G. Wynia G.R. Tetreault T.W. Clark J.L. Cunningham E.J. Ussery M.E. McMaster Fish assemblage monitoring in Alberta’s Ells River: Baseline fish and habitat variability prior to major development |
topic_facet |
Multivariate analysis Fish assemblage Oil Sands Biomonitoring Baseline Fish habitat Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
The collection of sentinel fish species for Environmental Effects Monitoring (EEM) has provided ancillary fish assemblage surveys on several tributaries in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR) of Alberta, Canada over the last decade. Using available, comparable data we investigated baseline fish assemblage variability along the Ells River, a tributary of the Athabasca River experiencing increasing proximity to natural bitumen deposits and proposed mining development as it approaches confluence with the mainstem Athabasca. Transect-based electrofishing data from four sites surveyed in September 2013, 2014 and 2018 showed significant spatiotemporal variability in assemblages, where spatial variability was greatest in 2013 and temporal variability was observed in assemblages both upstream (2013–2014) and downstream (2014–2018) of proposed development. Habitat assessments in 2018 revealed significant relationships among pH, algae cover and site slope with fish assemblages of the same year. Due to the complementary nature of assemblage surveys, data challenges (changing methodologies, sampling effort, and limited ancillary physiochemical data) have presented limitations to the multivariate approach applied in the study. Moving forward, employing consistent methods for fish collections and fine-scale habitat assessments will improve the ability to correlate assemblage variability with changes in the physical environment. Ultimately, this will aid in developing potential triggers of change that may be attributed to or confound adjacent, expanding Oil Sands activities. These findings will also inform monitoring programs on the use of fish assemblages as indicators of change, potentially providing an alternative to existing biomonitoring approaches in small streams with small fish populations. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
A.G. Wynia G.R. Tetreault T.W. Clark J.L. Cunningham E.J. Ussery M.E. McMaster |
author_facet |
A.G. Wynia G.R. Tetreault T.W. Clark J.L. Cunningham E.J. Ussery M.E. McMaster |
author_sort |
A.G. Wynia |
title |
Fish assemblage monitoring in Alberta’s Ells River: Baseline fish and habitat variability prior to major development |
title_short |
Fish assemblage monitoring in Alberta’s Ells River: Baseline fish and habitat variability prior to major development |
title_full |
Fish assemblage monitoring in Alberta’s Ells River: Baseline fish and habitat variability prior to major development |
title_fullStr |
Fish assemblage monitoring in Alberta’s Ells River: Baseline fish and habitat variability prior to major development |
title_full_unstemmed |
Fish assemblage monitoring in Alberta’s Ells River: Baseline fish and habitat variability prior to major development |
title_sort |
fish assemblage monitoring in alberta’s ells river: baseline fish and habitat variability prior to major development |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02007 https://doaj.org/article/b5068843af474b7984eb1184640ef90a |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-111.669,-111.669,57.300,57.300) |
geographic |
Athabasca River Canada Ells River |
geographic_facet |
Athabasca River Canada Ells River |
genre |
Athabasca River |
genre_facet |
Athabasca River |
op_source |
Global Ecology and Conservation, Vol 34, Iss , Pp e02007- (2022) |
op_relation |
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989422000099 https://doaj.org/toc/2351-9894 2351-9894 doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02007 https://doaj.org/article/b5068843af474b7984eb1184640ef90a |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02007 |
container_title |
Global Ecology and Conservation |
container_volume |
34 |
container_start_page |
e02007 |
_version_ |
1766356640713408512 |