Urban development results in stressors that degrade stream ecosystems

Abstract

Analyses of how changes in stream hydrology, habitat, and chemistry relate to the species composition of biological communities indicate that no single environmental factor was universally important across all the study areas in explaining the effects of urban development on stream ecosystems. Even within a single study area, the three biological communities that were surveyed-algal, invertebrate, and fish-had different responses to urban development and changing environ mental factors. The algal, invertebrate, and fish communities have different life cycles and requirements for food, shelter, and reproduction; consequently, their responses typically vary with stressors that arise from urban-related changes in physical and chemical factors. Different responses among the three communities, however, can provide important clues about the types of stressors that occur with urban development, which then can be linked to management actions that may be appropriate for improving stream conditions.

Evaluation of the Relationship between Stream Habitat Quality and Taxa and Trait Richness and Diversity in Piedmont Streams in North Carolina

“…Urbanization results in degraded stream channels, reduced stream habitat diversity, and impaired benthic macroinvertebrate communities [26,30,65,66,[68][69][70][71]. We found that taxa richness and diversity were significantly correlated with habitat diversity.…”

“…Some streams that were identified as having low EMHAP scores had diverse habitats. This variability may be due to different types of stressors across these watersheds, including percent of impervious cover, presence or absence of stormwater control measures, and pollution being sourced from different land use, such as commercial and industrial versus residential [26,[64][65][66][67].…”

“…which is typical of streams in watersheds with high impervious cover. The US Geological Survey conducted a series of studies on the impact of urbanization on streams and found that most urban streams had severely degraded channels and low habitat diversities [64][65][66]68,70]. The habitat in these streams has homogenized, reducing the diversity of habitats available to benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages.…”

Filling the Void: The Effect of Stream Bank Soil Pipes on Transient Hyporheic Exchange During a Peak Flow Event

“…Streams are integral to many ecosystems (Cummins & Klug, 1979, Huet, 1959, Quaglietta et al, 2018 and a key component of the Earth's critical zone (Richter & Mobley, 2009). Impacts from climate change (Du et al, 2019;Molina-Navarro et al, 2018;Tang, 2019), urbanization (Bell. et al, 2012;Coles and U.S. Geological Survey, 2012;Hassett et al, 2018;O'Driscoll et al, 2010;Waite et al, 2008), agricultural pesticides (Climent et al, 2019, Knillmann et al, 2018, Rizzi et al, 2019, Stehle & Schulz, 2015, and fertilizers (Connolly et al, 2015;Jones et al, 2018;King et al, 2016;White et al, 2018) are increasing concerns.…”

“…Impacts from climate change (Du et al, ; Molina‐Navarro et al, ; Tang, ), urbanization (Bell. et al, ; Coles and U.S. Geological Survey, ; Hassett et al, ; O'Driscoll et al, ; Waite et al, ), agricultural pesticides (Climent et al, , Knillmann et al, , Rizzi et al, , Stehle & Schulz, ), and fertilizers (Connolly et al, ; Jones et al, ; King et al, ; White et al, ) are increasing concerns. As such anthropogenic effects to streams and rivers mount (Liao et al, ; Vorosmarty et al, ), research on stream functions has grown.…”