In regards to fish communities in Brier Creek, Oklahoma, if the system was stochastic, then you could expect that species would occur randomly throughout the reaches of the creek. However, if the system were to be deterministic then you would expect to find certain species in certain locations. Given the data found within Matthews et al. (2013) as well as data from Smith and Powell (1971), I believe that the fish community of Brier Creek, Oklahoma is deterministic in nature. Throughout my education in aquatic biology and ichthyology I have begun to realize that that the natural world is relatively predictable. Throughout my academic career I have heard multiple professors say that if you know that habitat of a location then you can make relatively
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As stated within the paper, despite a large amount of disturbances within the creek, fish assemblages have managed to maintain stability. Also, it is mentioned that if a section of the stream were cleared of all populations and was allowed to naturally recover, the communities that would reestablish in this section of stream would be similar to those that were eliminated (Smith and Powell, 1971). Given these observations, the authors conclude that the assemblages of fishes are due to environmental factors and not based on random chance (Smith and Powell, 1971). Smith and Powell were able to group fishes of Brier Creek into three groupings based off of where the fishes were caught within the stream. These three groupings were as follows, lake dwelling species, stream residing species, and lake/headwater species (Smith and Powell, 1971). This finding lends itself to the fact that fishes choose where they live based off of habitat and certain species are going to specialize in certain habitats. So while the distribution of habitats may be random within a stream, the communities of fishes within each habitat will be determined by the type of habitat that is …show more content…
(2013). This study compiled four decades worth of data relating to the fish communities of Brier Creek, Oklahoma. From this data the authors sought to determine what has changed within the stream and its fish communities over the last forty years. During this time period there have been historic droughts as well as historic floods that have affected the creek. If the fish communities of Brier Creek are stochastic then we would expect that the data from this study would show that there is no stability or norm when it comes to fish communities within the creek. This means that the species of fishes occurring in the creek and where they occur within the creek would be randomly distributed over the four decades of study. However, the authors determined that since the first know collection of fishes in Brier Creek in 1960, there has been very little variation of species within the creek (Matthews et al., 2013). This is an interesting discovery as within this time frame there have been times of high disturbance which could have potentially changed the entire community system of the creek if the communities were stochastic in nature. Matthews et al. (2013) concludes that findings since 1969 in the Brier Creek fish community suggest that the community has tended towards a deterministic regulation of a loosely
As stated within the paper, despite a large amount of disturbances within the creek, fish assemblages have managed to maintain stability. Also, it is mentioned that if a section of the stream were cleared of all populations and was allowed to naturally recover, the communities that would reestablish in this section of stream would be similar to those that were eliminated (Smith and Powell, 1971). Given these observations, the authors conclude that the assemblages of fishes are due to environmental factors and not based on random chance (Smith and Powell, 1971). Smith and Powell were able to group fishes of Brier Creek into three groupings based off of where the fishes were caught within the stream. These three groupings were as follows, lake dwelling species, stream residing species, and lake/headwater species (Smith and Powell, 1971). This finding lends itself to the fact that fishes choose where they live based off of habitat and certain species are going to specialize in certain habitats. So while the distribution of habitats may be random within a stream, the communities of fishes within each habitat will be determined by the type of habitat that is …show more content…
(2013). This study compiled four decades worth of data relating to the fish communities of Brier Creek, Oklahoma. From this data the authors sought to determine what has changed within the stream and its fish communities over the last forty years. During this time period there have been historic droughts as well as historic floods that have affected the creek. If the fish communities of Brier Creek are stochastic then we would expect that the data from this study would show that there is no stability or norm when it comes to fish communities within the creek. This means that the species of fishes occurring in the creek and where they occur within the creek would be randomly distributed over the four decades of study. However, the authors determined that since the first know collection of fishes in Brier Creek in 1960, there has been very little variation of species within the creek (Matthews et al., 2013). This is an interesting discovery as within this time frame there have been times of high disturbance which could have potentially changed the entire community system of the creek if the communities were stochastic in nature. Matthews et al. (2013) concludes that findings since 1969 in the Brier Creek fish community suggest that the community has tended towards a deterministic regulation of a loosely