Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Effects of Hurricane Katrina on the fish fauna of the Pascagoula River Drainage

Informally Refereed

Abstract

Large tropical storms can have dramatic effects on coastal, estuarine and terrestrial ecosystems. However, it is not as well understood how these types of disturbances might impact freshwater communities further inland. Storm surges can change critical water quality parameters for kilometers upstream, potentially causing subtle shifts in community structure or more drastic fish kills. Hurricane Katrina was one of the largest such storms to strike the coast of Mississippi and provides an opportunity to examine these effects in areas where we had pre-storm fish community data. In the weeks following the storm, fish kills were reported from some of the lower portions of the drainage.

Keywords

Ecology, Surface Water

Citation

Schaefer, J.; Mickle, P.; Spaeth, J.; Kreiser, B.R.; Adams, S.B.; Matamoros, W.; Zuber, B.; Vigueira, P. 2006. Effects of Hurricane Katrina on the fish fauna of the Pascagoula River Drainage. 36th Annual Mississippi Water Resources Conference
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/31557