Stream Habitats, Benthic Macroinvertebrates, Lotic Fish and Their Relationships: a Multi-scale Approach

A natural reach of montane stream (length 96 m and 7 m width) was grided into 150 cells (2 × 2 m). Density and biomass of fish (Salmo trutta L. and Cottus poecilopus Heckel) were estimated at each cell, as well as stream depth, current velocity, Froude number, bed granulation and its roughness were measured, and benthic samples from exposed bricks were collected from mid August to early October. The analysis of spatial patterns of seven variables (five abiotic and two biotic ones) and fish occurrence from the period of highest organisms’ abundance confirmed that two fish species were separated within the stream space and sculpin showed close association to benthic prey. The PCA pointed to the highest loadings of abiotic habitat variables (64% of the total variance) indicating importance of hydraulics (stream velocity and Froude number) and bed characteristics (stream depth and bed roughness) in distribution of fish communities in pristine low order streams.