| Abstract | | The Laguna de Santa Rosa, the Russian River's largest tributary, is the focus of projects that seek to improve its ecological health. However, no studies of the Laguna de Santa Rosa's aquatic community have been performed since 1988. As a result, we surveyed water quality,
phytoplankton, invertebrates, fishes, and fish gut contents in 2008 to (1) assess changes in the
Laguna de Santa Rosa's fish community since 1988, (2) provide baseline data for restoration
efforts, and (3) relate fish community composition to abiotic and biotic parameters. Our waterquality, phytoplankton, and invertebrate surveys in 2008 showed that the Laguna de Santa Rosa is a very eutrophic system. Concomitantly, the fish community was dominated by species that can handle very low oxygen levels and do not spawn in riffles. Fish gut contents showed that smaller fish were heavily dependent on zooplankton, while larger fish focused more on macroinvertebrates. These results are consistent with those obtained in 1988 and suggest that the conditions structuring the fish community have remained relatively stable.
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