Fish communities in PA and MD Piedmont mixed agricultural streams, 2023

From 2-27 June, 2023, a Virginia Tech team of 5 sampled the fish community in 30 Piedmont streams (lower Susquehanna River and upper Chesapeake Bay tributaries, Pennsylvania and Maryland, USA) spanning a gradient of agricultural intensity as part of a larger stream-health study including other teams who surveyed geomorphology, water quality, flow, temperature, and macroinvertebrates at the same 30 streams. Upstream drainage area of these 30 streams ranged from approximately 10 to 50 sq. km, and width from 2 to 10 m. At each stream, we sampled fish from two reaches using two-pass backpack electrofishing and seining. Reach A was the main reach surveyed by all the interdisciplinary teams; Reach B was surveyed for fish communities only. Reach length was 20 wetted channel widths, capped at 150 meters. Fish were identified to species, assigned to a length class, inspected for anomalies, and released. Other measurements included water temperature, electrical conductivity, pH, dissolved oxygen, and clarity, and streambed area comprising pool, riffle, and run habitats.