<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<oai_dc:dc xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:oai_dc="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc.xsd">
  <dc:contributor>William L. Fisher</dc:contributor>
  <dc:creator>Titus S. Seilheimer</dc:creator>
  <dc:date>2010</dc:date>
  <dc:description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Habitat use by fishes in groundwater-dependent ecosystems with springs and spring-fed creeks is not widely studied or well understood. We evaluated habitat use by three disjunct populations of fish species (&lt;/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;Phoxinus erythrogaster&lt;/i&gt;&lt;span&gt;,&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;Nocomis asper&lt;/i&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;and&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;Etheostoma microperca&lt;/i&gt;&lt;span&gt;) and, a widespread species,&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;E. spectabile&lt;/i&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;in spring-fed streams draining the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer of southern Oklahoma. Habitat preference for each species was classified based on depth, velocity, substrate and cover.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;Phoxinus erthyrogaster&lt;/i&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;and&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;N. asper&lt;/i&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;were associated with pools with little cover, while&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;E. microperca&lt;/i&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;was found in heavily vegetated areas.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;Etheostoma spectabile&lt;/i&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;used habitat in riffles with rapid velocity and large substrate types. We classified habitat selection and avoidance with Chesson's α and observed significant differences in habitat use among species in the study sites. Overall differences in habitat use for&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;P. erythrogaster&lt;/i&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;among the three study sites were primarily related to differences in available habitat between springs. Our study provides vital ecological information about disjunct populations of groundwater-dependent fishes in an aquifer that is experiencing development pressure for water abstraction.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</dc:description>
  <dc:format>application/pdf</dc:format>
  <dc:identifier>10.1674/0003-0031-164.2.201</dc:identifier>
  <dc:language>en</dc:language>
  <dc:publisher>University of Notre Dame</dc:publisher>
  <dc:title>Habitat use by fishes in groundwater-dependent streams of southern Oklahoma</dc:title>
  <dc:type>article</dc:type>
</oai_dc:dc>