 | In WOC, the fish communities continued to display limited recovery, with sites closest to the outfalls having lower species richness but higher density (Figure 1). These densities are much higher than area reference streams, suggesting some sort of enhancement of production, perhaps through nutrient enrichment. |
| Recent data do continue to show a long-term positive trend that indicates the fish communities have improved over the 1985 to 1999 period. |
| However, the fish communities in WOC continue to show impacts, compared with reference streams, by having fewer species, fewer sensitive species, and more tolerant species. |
| In the major tributaries, the fish communities also show some recovery but not up to levels exhibited by reference streams. Fifth Creek has shown the most improvement, from being incapable of supporting a fish community before 1992, to having a fairly stable 4-species community by 1998. |
| The patterns of low species richness seen in the WOC watershed are partially a result of isolation from the rest of the Clinch drainage. The numerous weirs and dams on the creek represent barriers to colonization of WOC by additional species, genera, and families. |
| Figure 1. Density (fish/m2) estimates for spring and fall samples of sites in the mainstem of White Oak Creek (WCK), 1985 through 1999. |
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Last Modified: April 17, 2001