Fish Distribution in the Skunk River below Ames, Iowa

The Skunk River has been straightened most of the way from Ames to Colfax. In the summer of 1968, 24 species of fish were collected. There were few species other than minnows, and red shiner (Notropis lutrensis), bigmouth shiner (N. dorsalis) and sand shiner (N. straminous) were most abundant. Water levels were above normal during the study and effects of pollution upon fish distribution were not pronounced. The diversity index, d, at the station where treated-sewage wastes entered, was lower than at stations up and down stream but was higher than at the four stations farthest downstream. Uniformity of habitat resulting from stream-straightening probably limits species diversity