Do fish in an urban river system use a rehabilitated and reconnected stormwater pond during the summer?

For mobile animals such as fish, different habitat types at various life stages are required to support a broad range of ecological requirements. However, in urban areas, access to suitable habitat may be impeded. Moreover, rehabilitation efforts focused on urban waterbodies are infrequent, small-scale, and inadequately monitored. We characterized the connectivity of the fish community between the Jock River in eastern Ontario and a rehabilitated stormwater management pond during late spring. Passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags were implanted into over 800 individual fish, representing sixteen species with a wide range of body sizes and life-histories. Summer residency and behavior were assessed using detections from an array of autonomous PIT receiver stations. This research revealed that there is ecological connectivity between an adjacent rehabilitated stormwater pond and the Jock River. Some species were resident in the pond during the entire summer monitoring period while others such as sunfish ( Lepomis sp.) and rock bass ( Ambloplites rupestris ) made regular forays between the river and the pond. There was also evidence of significant movement within the pond for species such as golden shiner ( Notemigonus crysoleucas ) and northern pike ( Esox lucius ). This study demonstrates the potential for created habitats in floodplain areas initially intended for stormwater management to be rehabilitated to provide significant ecological value in urbanized watersheds. • Access to suitable habitat may be impeded in degraded urban freshwater ecosystems. • We investigated fish connectivity between the Jock River in eastern Ontario and a rehabilitated stormwater management pond. • Sixteen species of fish were tagged with passive integrated transponder tags and tracked in the summer. • High levels of ecological connectivity between the two habitats were documented. • Created habitats initially intended for stormwater management have the potential to be rehabilitated to support native fish.