Patterns of fish community structure in a long‐term watershed‐scale study to address the aquatic ecosystem effects of pulp and paper mill discharges in four us receiving streams

Abstract Physiological changes have been seen in individual fish exposed to pulp and paper mill effluent (PPME), but it is unclear whether community-level changes are seen in fish in PPME receiving waters. We conducted a study of 4 PPME receiving streams (Codorus Creek, PA, USA), the Leaf River (Forrest and Perry Counties, MS, USA), and the McKenzie and Willamette rivers (Lane County, OR, USA) over 9 y to assess temporal patterns in the type and relative abundance of fish species and measures of community structure and function related to PPME discharge. We used boat and backpack electrofishing to sample large- and small-bodied fish from the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, boat electrofishing to sample large-bodied fish from the Leaf River, and backpack electrofishing to sample the entire fish community from Codorus Creek. Study streams represented different ecoregions, warm- and coldwater systems, gradients of PPME concentration (<1%–33%), and mill process types. Bray–Curtis similarity and nonmetric mult...