Fish assemblages and habitat conditions of the Saint Lawrence River and its Tributaries

Biodiversity measures provide insight into ecological processes like productivity and ecosystem stability, and rare, vulnerable species are a major component of freshwater biodiversity. This data release provides the data used to address multiple ecological questions about fish and habitat conditions throughout a large section of the St. Lawrence River Valley. More than 140,000 fishes of 87 species, including Threatened and Endangered species (T&E), were collected from a total of 1,140 sample sites, covering 278 stream reaches. We identified 50 distinct fish assemblage types differing in species composition, abundance, and/or diversity, but only 13 of those assemblages included a T&E species. The geographic distribution of multimetric disturbance index values showed where combinations of disturbances to fish habitats might affect rare fish species and aquatic communities in the region.

生物多样性评估指标可揭示生产力、生态系统稳定性等生态过程的内在规律，而珍稀易危物种是淡水生物多样性的重要组成部分。本数据集发布了用于解答圣劳伦斯河谷（St. Lawrence River Valley）大片区域内鱼类与栖息地状况相关多项生态问题的原始数据。本次采样覆盖278个河段，累计在1140个采样点采集到隶属于87个物种的14万余尾鱼类，其中包含受威胁与濒危物种（Threatened and Endangered，以下简称T&E）。研究团队共识别出50种具有独特物种组成、种群丰度及物种多样性特征的鱼类群落，但其中仅13个群落包含T&E物种。多指标干扰指数（multimetric disturbance index）的空间分布结果，明确了该区域内各类鱼类栖息地干扰组合可能对珍稀鱼类及水生生物群落产生影响的具体区域。