Basics
Focus Area - Community Structure
Community structure reflects the ecological conditions that affect diversity, distribution, and the interactions among producers and consumers able to survive in nearshore environment. Macroinvertebrates (including crayfish), fish, and macrophytes are visible aquatic organisms that interact to create the community structure representative of Lake Tahoe’s nearshore ecosystem. Detection of changes in this community structure can infer changes in the status of Lake Tahoe’s nearshore condition, which has changed over time as a consequence of changing patterns in land use, recreational activities, climate, species distributions, and other unidentified factors.
NRAP Focus Area Key Photo
Signal Crayfish
State of Knowledge

The composition, distribution, and abundance of macroinvertebrates, invertebrates, fishes, and plants at Lake Tahoe have been infrequently assessed. The biological structure has been dramatically influenced by the introduction of non-native and invasive species that have, in some cases, completely replaced native inhabitants. Consequently, the primary community structure management objectives focus on aquatic invasive species control. 

No Monitoring Programs are yet associated with this Focus Area.