Survey of Pigeon River algal communities: distribution and abundance of species at varying depths.

Abstract

We studied algal communities and their variation between two different depths of the Pigeon River in July and August, 1992 at the University of Michigan Biological Station, Pellston, Michigan. The purpose of our study was to do a general survey of the algae in the Pigeon River and to determine the variation in community makeup in deep versus shallow areas. We made collections from natural substrates in the river, then used a sequential comparison index and a Palmer index to estimate diversity and abundance of algal genera and species. Our results showed that the deep water algal communities were both more diverse and more dense. We concluded that the greater diversity and abundance of genera in the deeper water was most likely because of slower currents than in the shallows and year-round availability of water.