Poster Details
INFLUENCE OF STONEROLLERS ON ALGAE ALONG A PHOSPHORUS GRADIENT
Relationships between nutrients and algae in Ozark Highland (OH) streams can be variable due to many factors, like grazer activity. Stonerollers (Campostoma sp.) occur in high abundances in OH streams and they can negatively affect algal biomass. An electrical exclosure experiment was conducted on five OH streams along a dissolved phosphorus gradient in summer 2016. A block design was set up in each stream with a treatment excluding stonerollers using an electrical pulse and a control allowing stonerollers to graze on tiles attached to frame. Tiles were collected every seven days for four weeks in each treatment and chlorophyll a and ash free dry mass (AFDM) we measured. We hypothesized that the effect size (treatment/control) would increase along the phosphorus gradient. Days 14 and 28 show no significant difference between treatment and control. However, sites with higher phosphorus concentrations tended to have greater effect size. Stonerollers are a key fish in Ozark streams and their influence on algal biomass needs to be better understood.
Kayla Sayre (Primary Presenter/Author), University of Arkansas , kayraysay27@gmail.com;
Michelle Evans-White ( Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Arkansas, mevanswh@uark.edu;