Relative importance of macrophyte community versus water quality variables for predicting fish assemblages in coastal wetlands of the Laurentian Great Lakes

Fish have been shown to be sensitive indicators of environmental quality in Great Lakes coastal wetlands. Fish composition also reflects aquatic macrophyte communities, which provide them with critical habitat. Although investigators have shown that the relationship between water quality and fish community structure can be used to indicate wetland health, we speculate that this relationship is a result of the stronger, more direct relationship …