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Rights Statements InC/1.0 , Open Access
Journal article
Benthic invertebrates and sediment characteristics in main channel habitats in the lower Columbia River
Northwest science., Vol.71(1), pp.45-55
1997
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/1258
Abstract
Benthic invertebrate communities in the Columbia River between the lowermost dam and the upper estuary have been little studied. We describe the abundance of benthic invertebrates and sediment characteristics in main channel habitats in the lower Columbia River and examine the relationships between densities of specific benthic invertebrates and sediment characteristics and water depth. Using a 0.1-m-2 Van Veen grab sampler, we collected benthic samples in seven areas of the river from River Kilometer (RKm) 121 to 211 in April and September 1988 and 1989. Common taxa collected, included Turbellaria, Oligochaeta, the bivalve Corbicula fluminea, the amphipod Corophium salmonis, Chironomidae larvae, and Ceratopogonidae larvae. Overall, Corbicula fluminea and Ceratopogonidae larvae were consistently the most abundant benthic invertebrates. The relationship of benthic invertebrate densities between and within years, months, and areas varied substantially between the six predominant taxa. The effect of water depth and sediment characteristics on benthic invertebrate densities, after accounting for the influence of year, month, and area, varied between the six predominant taxa in this study. Water depth was significant (P ltoreq 0.05) for densities of three of the six taxa, sediment percent silt/clay significant for four, and sediment grain size and percent volatile solids significant for one each. Results from our study are probably applicable to a large area of main channel habitats in the Columbia River downstream from the lowermost dam. Because benthic invertebrates, particularly Corophium salmonis, are primary prey for many fishes, the sustained health of benthic invertebrate populations in the lower Columbia River is of concern
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Details
- Title
- Benthic invertebrates and sediment characteristics in main channel habitats in the lower Columbia River
- Creators
- George-T McCabe (Author)Susan A. Hinton (Author)Robert L. Emmett (Author)Benjamin P. Sandford (Author)
- Publication Details
- Northwest science., Vol.71(1), pp.45-55
- Academic Unit
- Northwest Science
- Publisher
- WSU Press
- Identifiers
- 99900502331701842
- Copyright
- In copyright ; openAccess ; http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ ; http://purl.org/eprint/accessRights/OpenAccess
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article