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Effects Of Agricultural Land Use On Stream Fish Communities In Ohio, Usa, Blythe Hazellief

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Ohio is a state dominated by agricultural land use. Such land use may directly alter stream waters and instream habitat, which may, in turn, affect fish communities. To examine the effects of agricultural land use on Ohio stream fish communities, I analyzed data compiled by the Ohio EPA, spanning 15 years and including 2,474 statewide sites. For 253 of these sites, I derived land use profiles from the 2011 USGS National Land Cover Database. While habitat quality was not correlated with agriculture, nutrient concentrations, alkalinity and total dissolved solids were positively correlated with agricultural land use within the catchment. Fish …