Temporal variability of benthic invertebrate communities at reference sites in eastern Newfoundland and its significance in long-term ecological monitoring

MacDonald, Amelia J.; Côté, David

doi:10.1080/02705060.2013.847869

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…While it has been a traditional tenet of long‐term biomonitoring programmes that reference‐quality streams show relatively little interannual variation in macroinvertebrate communities (Robinson, Minshall, & Royer, ), recent studies have shown that this is not always the case. MacDonald and Cote () compared year‐to‐year variation in benthic macroinvertebrate stream communities at reference and urbanised sites over a six year period and found significant temporal change in communities in both stream types, although there was a much a greater degree of variation at urbanised sites. Our study sites encompassed a gradient of sites ranging from highly disturbed to reference condition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Using biological data to inform policies and models can improve the likelihood of achieving desired results (King et al., ; Poff et al., ), yet there is a great deal of variation inherent in the collection of such data (Hurlbert, ; Ruiz‐Gutierrez, Hooten, & Grant, ). While long‐term monitoring studies designed to assess year‐to‐year temporal variation at the same site would be the ideal way to better understand environmental flow relationships (MacDonald & Cote, ), limitations of time and funding make this an impractical option. Most studies examining flow‐ecology relationships are carried out over a shorter time frame, and some studies are based on a single sample from a given time period to categorise a site (Olden et al., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Supra‐seasonal droughts represent extreme ramp disturbances in which the perturbation increases in strength over time (Lake, ) and may be much more difficult for organisms to cope with due to a lack of predictability in timing or duration (Lake, ; Lynch & Magoulick, ). Ideally, natural temporal variation, including infrequent major disturbances such as severe floods (Matthews, ; Matthews, Marsh‐Matthews, Adams, & Adams, ) or supra‐seasonal droughts (Lake, ), should be integrated into biomonitoring studies (Sousa, ; Stoddard, Larsen, Hawkins, Johnson, & Norris, ), although this might be challenging due to the logistics of monitoring many sites over extended periods (MacDonald & Cote, ). This kind of extreme temporal variation can confound our understanding of flow‐ecology relationships.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The influence of drought on flow‐ecology relationships in Ozark Highland streams

2018

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Drought and summer drying can have strong effects on abiotic and biotic components of stream ecosystems. Environmental flow‐ecology relationships may be affected by drought and drying, adding further uncertainty to the already complex interaction of flow with other environmental variables, including geomorphology and water quality. Environment–ecology relationships in stream communities in Ozark Highland streams, USA, were examined over two years with contrasting environmental conditions, a drought year (2012) and a flood year (2013). We analysed fish, crayfish and benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages using two different approaches: (1) a multiple regression analysis incorporating predictor variables related to habitat, water quality, geomorphology and hydrology and (2) a canonical ordination procedure using only hydrologic variables in which forward selection was used to select predictors that were most related to our response variables. Reach‐scale habitat quality and geomorphology were found to be the most important influences on community structure, but hydrology was also important, particularly during the flood year. We also found substantial between‐year variation in environment–ecology relationships. Some ecological responses differed significantly between drought and flood years, while others remained consistent. We found that magnitude was the most important flow component overall, but that there was a shift in relative importance from low flow metrics during the drought year to average flow metrics during the flood year, and the specific metrics of importance varied markedly between assemblages and years. Findings suggest that understanding temporal variation in flow‐ecology relationships may be crucial for resource planning. While some relationships show temporal variation, others are consistent between years. Additionally, different kinds of hydrologic variables can differ greatly in terms of which assemblages they affect and how they affect them. Managers can address this complexity by focusing on relationships that are temporally stable and flow metrics that are consistently important across groups, such as flood frequency and flow variability.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The influence of drought on flow‐ecology relationships in Ozark Highland streams

2018

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“…Prolonged sediment ramping (the continued increase of sediment accumulating) will lead to high levels of deposited sediment. Macdonald, A., & Cote, D. (2014) shows that invertebrate populations can be less resilient to repeated flooding in streams than non-repeated disturbance. Storms transport significantly more sediment to streams during flooding.…”

Section: B4 Macroinvertebrate Response To Disturbancementioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying ecological effects of sedimentation in streams in differing land use management zones

Mair¹

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<p>This ecological and geomorphological assessment of Horokiri Stream and Ration Creek was conducted across four longitudinal zones to explore the effects of sediment delivery, run-off, channel form, riparian and in-stream habitat. The Horokiri Stream channel has moved approximately 7 metres westward over the last 20 years, with both banks now covered in long grass, flaxes, natives with a mix of tall canopy trees. Looking at stream, Spearman’s for Ration at Figure 27 (n = 16, rho -0.243, p = 0.36) as deposited sediment increased, MCI decreased, non-significant. Spearman’s for Horokiri at Figure 28 (n = 16, rho 0.247, p = 0.35) as MCI increased with sediment, non-significant. Results from upstream of the riparian zones showed more deposited fine sediment. However, within both the riparian zones the sediment deposition was much lower. The native riparian planting along the stream banks had a positive effect on reducing sedimentation. The findings support the concept that the restoration of riparian zones with buffer widths exceeding 10 metres can improve stream habitat and invertebrate health. There was no relationship between flow and deposition rate P(X2>241.84) = 0.24. Figure 24 shows deposited sediment on MCI depending on land use groups (X2 = 11.81, df = 4, p = 0.019). No statistically significant differences were found (comparing the effect of sediment between different land use management groups). An experiment investigated a disturbance hypothesis in both Ration Creek and Horokiri Stream was conducted during February 2019. The experiment was designed to be long enough to study the effects of four weekly pulse flushing events created by scrapping the stream bed with a drain drag tool and the effects of a press sustained disturbance on the macroinvertebrate community. I measured the sediment and the macroinvertebrate captured in each trap within the experiment site every seven days. My prediction was that macroinvertebrate communities subject to sustained fine sediment delivery (press disturbance) are affected by simulated pulse flushing events (pulse disturbance). A comparison of sediment depositional rate before and after the manipulative experiment (Figure 36) showed higher sediment deposition after the pulse flushing events (1.55 W/A/D) compared to before during the assessment phase (0.88 W/A/D) in Horokiri (t = 2.35, df = 8.95, p = 0.04), but no significant difference before (1.57 W/A/D) or after (1.38 W/A/D) in Ration (t = -0.818, df = 7.71, p = 0.44). It appeared that the smaller riparian buffer width of 2-5m at Ration Creek did not limit sediment deposition. The effects of sediment disturbance in the experiment reflect the rapid ability of macroinvertebrates to respond to sediment by drifting out of unsuitable areas. The weekly pulse disturbance events resulted in increased sediment deposition compared to the background levels of sediment deposition (indicative of a press disturbance) in both streams. As pulse disturbance events increased, the number of macroinvertebrate taxa decreased. Horokiri Stream invertebrate communities declined by 33% compared to Ration Creek which declined by 50%.</p>

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A Large-Scale, Multiagency Approach to Defining a Reference Network for Pacific Northwest Streams

Miller

Eldred

Muldoon

et al. 2016

Environmental Management

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Aquatic monitoring programs vary widely in objectives and design. However, each program faces the unifying challenge of assessing conditions and quantifying reasonable expectations for measured indicators. A common approach for setting resource expectations is to define reference conditions that represent areas of least human disturbance or most natural state of a resource characterized by the range of natural variability across a region of interest. Identification of reference sites often relies heavily on professional judgment, resulting in varying and unrepeatable methods. Standardized methods for data collection, site characterization, and reference site selection facilitate greater cooperation among assessment programs and development of assessment tools that are readily shareable and comparable. We illustrate an example that can serve the broader global monitoring community on how to create a consistent and transparent reference network for multiple stream resource agencies. We provide a case study that offers a simple example of how reference sites can be used, at the landscape level, to link upslope management practices to a specific in-channel response. We found management practices, particularly areas with high road densities, have more fine sediments than areas with fewer roads. While this example uses data from only one of the partner agencies, if data were collected in a similar manner they can be combined and create a larger, more robust dataset. We hope that this starts a dialog regarding more standardized ways through inter-agency collaborations to evaluate data. Creating more consistency in physical and biological field protocols will increase the ability to share data.

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Temporal variability of benthic invertebrate communities at reference sites in eastern Newfoundland and its significance in long-term ecological monitoring

Cited by 3 publications

References 29 publications

The influence of drought on flow‐ecology relationships in Ozark Highland streams

The influence of drought on flow‐ecology relationships in Ozark Highland streams

Quantifying ecological effects of sedimentation in streams in differing land use management zones

A Large-Scale, Multiagency Approach to Defining a Reference Network for Pacific Northwest Streams

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