We analyzed data from 79 watersheds in an undegraded U.S. ecoregion to identify key environmental factors that explained stream fish assemblage patterns and to evaluate the relative influence of environmental factors operating at different spatial scales. A few key factors from the watershed, reach, and riparian scale explained a significant amount of the variance in fish attributes. Three environmentfish associations were evident. Top carnivores and intolerant cold-water fishes were associated with relatively narrow, deep, high-gradient, cold streams with strong groundwater inputs. Tolerant cyprinids occurred in small streams with low groundwater input, low dissolved oxygen, and abundant macrophytes. A diverse assemblage (Cyprinidae, Catostomidae, Centrarchidae, Percidae) existed in warm, wide streams in watersheds dominated by lacustrine sand and gravel geology and abundant wetlands and lakes. Overall, reach-scale variables directly explained the most, watershed-scale variables less, and riparian-scale variables the least variation in fish attributes. Watershed and riparian variables had indirect connections with fishes through their direct influence on reach variables. In conjunction with findings from more degraded regions, we conclude that the relative influence of reach-scale variables on fishes are greatest in undegraded areas and that direct effects of watershed-scale variables are increasingly important as human modifications of the landscape increase.
The relative importance of agricultural land retirement on water quality and aquatic-community health was investigated in the Minnesota River Basin. Eighty-two sites, with drainage areas ranging from 4.3 to 2200 km, were examined for nutrient concentrations, measures of aquatic-community health (e.g., fish index of biotic integrity [IBI] scores), and environmental factors (e.g., drainage area and amount of agricultural land retirement). The relation of proximity of agricultural land retirement to the stream was determined by calculating the land retirement percent in various riparian zones. Spearman's rho results indicated that IBI score was not correlated to the percentage of agricultural land retirement at the basin scale ( = 0.070); however, IBI score was correlated to retired land percentage in the 50- to 400-m riparian zones surrounding the streams ( < 0.05), indicating that riparian agricultural land retirement may have more influence on aquatic-community health than does agricultural land retirement in upland areas. Multivariate analysis of covariance and analysis of covariance models indicated that other environmental factors (such as drainage area and lacustrine and palustrine features) commonly were correlated to aquatic-community health measures, as were in-stream factors (standard deviation of water depth and substrate type). These results indicate that although agricultural land retirement is significantly related to fish communities as measured by the IBI scores, a combination of basin, riparian, and in-stream factors act together to influence IBI scores.
FST hemispheres of identical size but varying density were used to evaluate the intensity and duration of near-bottom shear stresses during peaking hydropower floods of various magnitudes (maximum 345 m3 s-'; baseflow 2.75 m3 s-I).The FST values at single points were recorded at rapid intervals along previously surveyed transects during the rising limb of flood events at various distances from the hydropower facility. Whole transect evaluations were accomplished after the 'flood' level had stabilized.Measurements of over 1300 FST values were significantly correlated with mean water column velocity and complex hydraulic conditions such as turbulence, shear velocity and viscous sublayer. FST hemispheres are a rapid means of characterizing hydraulic conditions in medium order rivers. Changes in near-substrate hydraulic conditions were patchy and could be classified in terms of risk to fauna of either dislodgement or physical damage. Low risk (class 1) changes occurred when FST values increased rapidly but returned to initial values after a short period of time ( < 90 minutes) from the arrival of the peaking wave. Medium risk (class 2) changes occurred when FST values increased rapidly and decreased after a short period of time, but remained at levels higher than before the arrival of the flood wave. High risk (class 3) changes occurred when FST values increased rapidly and remained at high levels during the entire flood event.It is suggested that floods that do not initiate significant bed movement create a mosaic of patches of variable disturbance risk to benthic fauna. Rapid evaluation by FST hemispheres could be used to characterize the overall disturbance potential for the channel by the construction of a weighted index based on the frequency of the various risk classes occurring in the reach being evaluated. A more appropriate analysis of impacts of peaking hydropower and other flood events must include the existence of hydraulic refugia and the movement patterns of both benthic species and those species that occupy the water column.
Water resource protection goals for aquatic life are often general and can result in under protection of some high quality water bodies and unattainable expectations for other water bodies. More refined aquatic life goals known as tiered aquatic life uses (TALUs) provide a framework to designate uses by setting protective goals for high quality water bodies and establishing attainable goals for water bodies altered by legally authorized legacy activities (e.g., channelization). Development of biological criteria or biocriteria typically requires identification of a set of least- or minimally-impacted reference sites that are used to establish a baseline from which goals are derived. Under a more refined system of stream types and aquatic life use goals, an adequate set of reference sites is needed to account for the natural variability of aquatic communities (e.g., landscape differences, thermal regime, and stream size). To develop sufficient datasets, Minnesota employed a reference condition approach in combination with an approach based on characterizing a stream's response to anthropogenic disturbance through development of a Biological Condition Gradient (BCG). These two approaches allowed for the creation of ecologically meaningful and consistent biocriteria within a more refined stream typology and solved issues related to small sample sizes and poor representation of minimally- or least-disturbed conditions for some stream types. Implementation of TALU biocriteria for Minnesota streams and rivers will result in consistent and protective goals that address fundamental differences among waters in terms of their potential for restoration.
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