scholarly journals Community-Level Response of Fishes and Aquatic Macroinvertebrates to Stream Restoration in a Third-Order Tributary of the Potomac River, USA

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen M. Selego ◽  
Charneé L. Rose ◽  
George T. Merovich ◽  
Stuart A. Welsh ◽  
James T. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Fish Community ◽  
Aquatic Macroinvertebrates ◽  
Functional Feeding Groups ◽  
Macroinvertebrate Communities ◽  
Potomac River ◽  
Stream Channel ◽  
Rapid Improvement ◽  
Third Order ◽  
Natural Stream ◽  
Restoration Practices

Natural stream channel design principles and riparian restoration practices were applied during spring 2010 to an agriculturally impaired reach of the Cacapon River, a tributary of the Potomac River which flows into the Chesapeake Bay. Aquatic macroinvertebrates and fishes were sampled from the restoration reach, two degraded control, and two natural reference reaches prior to, concurrently with, and following restoration (2009 through 2010). Collector filterers and scrapers replaced collector gatherers as the dominant macroinvertebrate functional feeding groups in the restoration reach. Before restoration, based on indices of biotic integrity (IBI), the restoration reach fish and macroinvertebrate communities closely resembled those sampled from the control reaches, and after restoration more closely resembled those from the reference reaches. Although the macroinvertebrate community responded more favorably than the fish community, both communities recovered quickly from the temporary impairment caused by the disturbance of restoration procedures and suggest rapid improvement in local ecological conditions.

scholarly journals Relating environmental variables with aquatic community structure in an agricultural/urban coldwater stream

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T. L. Myers ◽  
Richard R. Rediske ◽  
James N. McNair ◽  
Aaron D. Parker ◽  
E. Wendy Ogilvie
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Environmental Variables ◽  
Fish Community ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Urban Land ◽  
Urban Land Use ◽  
Aquatic Communities ◽  
Natural Stream ◽  
Longitudinal Gradients ◽  
Agricultural Areas

Abstract Background Urban areas are often built along large rivers and surrounded by agricultural land. This may lead to small tributary streams that have agricultural headwaters and urbanized lower reaches. Our study objectives assessed are as follows: (1) landscape, geomorphic, and water quality variables that best explained variation in aquatic communities and their integrity in a stream system following this agricultural-to-urban land use gradient; (2) ways this land use gradient caused aquatic communities to differ from what would be expected for an idealized natural stream or other longitudinal gradients; and (3) whether the impacts of this land use gradient on aquatic communities would grow larger in a downstream direction through the agricultural and urban developments. Our study area was an impaired coldwater stream in Michigan, USA. Results Many factors structured the biological communities along the agricultural-to-urban land use gradient. Instream woody debris had the strongest relationship with EPT (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera) abundance and richness and were most common in the lower, urbanized watershed. Fine streambed substrate had the strongest relationship with Diptera taxa and surface air breather macroinvertebrates and was dominant in agricultural headwaters. Fish community assemblage was influenced largely by stream flow and temperature regimes, while poor fish community integrity in lower urban reaches could be impacted by geomorphology and episodic urban pollution events. Scraping macroinvertebrates were most abundant in deforested, first-order agricultural headwaters, while EPT macroinvertebrate richness was the highest downstream of agricultural areas within the urban zone that had extensive forest buffers. Conclusion Environmental variables and aquatic communities would often not conform with what we would expect from an idealized natural stream. EPT richness improved downstream of agricultural areas. This shows promise for the recovery of aquatic systems using well-planned management in watersheds with this agricultural-to-urban land use pattern. Small patches of forest can be the key to conserving aquatic biodiversity in urbanized landscapes. These findings are valuable to an international audience of researchers and water resource managers who study stream systems following this common agricultural-to-urban land use gradient, the ecological communities of which may not conform with what is generally known about land use impacts to streams.

scholarly journals Variations in Benthic Macroinvertebrate Communities and Biological Quality in the Aguarico and Coca River Basins in the Ecuadorian Amazon

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 1692
Author(s):  
Santiago Cabrera ◽  
Marie Anne Eurie Forio ◽  
Koen Lock ◽  
Marte Vandenbroucke ◽  
Tania Oña ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Aquatic Ecosystems ◽  
Tropical Rainforest ◽  
Working Party ◽  
Functional Ecology ◽  
Functional Feeding Groups ◽  
Macroinvertebrate Communities ◽  
Sampling Campaign ◽  
Ecuadorian Amazon ◽  
Baseline Information ◽  
Tropical Aquatic Ecosystems

Adequate environmental management in tropical aquatic ecosystems is imperative. Given the lack of knowledge about functional diversity and bioassessment programs, management is missing the needed evidence on pollution and its effect on biodiversity and functional ecology. Therefore, we investigated the composition and distribution of the macroinvertebrate community along two rivers. Specifically, 15 locations were sampled in the Coca and Aguarico Rivers (Ecuadorian Amazon) and the macroinvertebrates were used to indicate water quality (WQ), expressed as the Biological Monitoring Working Party Colombia (BMWP-Col) classes. Results indicate that elevation, pH, temperature, width, and water depth played an important role in the taxa and functional feeding groups (FFG) composition. The results show that diversity of taxa and FFG were generally scarce but were more abundant in good quality sites. Collector-gathers (CG) were, in general, dominant and were particularly abundant at low WQ and downstream sites. Scrapers (SC) were the second most abundant group, dominating mostly at good WQ and upstream sites. Predators (PR) were homogeneously distributed among the sites, without clear dominance, and their abundance was slightly higher in sites with medium-low WQ and downstream sites. Lastly, both shredders (SH) and collector-filterers (CF) were almost absent and were more abundant in good quality sites. The findings of this research can be used as baseline information in the studied region since a dam was constructed two years after the sampling campaign, which has been operating since. Furthermore, the results can be used to fill the knowledge gaps related to the bioassessments of other similar systems, particularly for a tropical rainforest.

Retention and Transport of Nutrients in a Third-Order Stream: Channel Processes

Ecology ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 70 (6) ◽  
pp. 1877-1892 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank J. Triska ◽  
Vance C. Kennedy ◽  
Ronald J. Avanzino ◽  
Gary W. Zellweger ◽  
Kenneth E. Bencala
Keyword(s):  
Stream Channel ◽  
Channel Processes ◽  
Third Order ◽  
Order Stream

scholarly journals Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Assemblages in Rivers Under the Influence of Mining Activities

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Axel Eduardo Rico-Sánchez ◽  
Alexis Joseph Rodríguez-Romero ◽  
Jacinto Elías Sedeño-Díaz ◽  
Eugenia López-López ◽  
Andrea Sundermann
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metals ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Diversity Indices ◽  
Aquatic Macroinvertebrates ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Mining Activities ◽  
Macroinvertebrate Communities ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Central Plateau

Abstract Mining is one of the main pollution issues worldwide, causing the greatest disturbances to the environment. Industrial and artisanal mining activities are widespread in Mexico, being a major global producer of various metals. This study aimed to assess the ecological impairments resulting from mining activities using the aquatic macroinvertebrates assemblages (MA). A multiple co-inertia analysis (MCOA) was applied to determine the relationships between environmental factors, habitat quality, heavy metals, and aquatic macroinvertebrates in two rivers of the Central Plateau, Mexico. The results revealed three contrasting environmental conditions and different MA. High concentrations of heavy metals, nutrients, and salinity limit the presence of various families of seemingly sensitive macroinvertebrates, these factors were identified as the drivers of structural changes in the MA, showing that not only mining activities, but also agriculture, and villages in the basin, exert negative effects to the macroinvertebrate communities. Diversity indices showed that the lowest diversity matched with both, the most polluted and the most saline rivers. The rivers studied displayed a high alkalinity and hardness, which can lead to the formation of metal precipitates and thus acting as a protection to aquatic biota. Aquatic biomonitoring in rivers, impacted by mining and other human activities, is critical for detecting the effect of metals and other pollutants to improve management and conservation strategies. This study supports the design of cost-effective and accurate water quality biomonitoring protocols in developing countries.

Macrozoobenthos response to environmental degradation in a heavily modified stream: Case study the Upper Elbe River, Czech Republic

Biologia ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zdeněk Adámek ◽  
Claus Orendt ◽  
Georg Wolfram ◽  
Jan Sychra
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Size Structure ◽  
Habitat Characteristics ◽  
Macroinvertebrate Communities ◽  
Elbe River ◽  
Important Indicator ◽  
Natural Stream ◽  
River Bed ◽  
Macrophyte Community ◽  
The Impact

AbstractBenthic macroinvertebrates are an important indicator of river health. However, their response upon water quality development downstream the pollution outlets considerably depends on the environmental habitat characteristics. Three successive stretches, each of them providing three different mesohabitats in stillwater (S), torrential (T) and riparian (R) zones were selected for evaluation of the impact of altered metapotamal river bed morphology (channelization) and chemical determinants of water quality on the Upper Elbe River. In downstream direction, the stretches are separated by weirs and characterized as a low polluted low modified natural stream (N), a low polluted channelized stream (C) and a channelized polluted stream (CP). Altogether, 111 benthic macroinvertebrate taxa were recorded in the Pardubice hotspot between Němčice and Přelouč. Despite different levels of stream bed and water quality degradation, micro- and mesohabitat characteristics appeared to be the most important factors determining the diversity of macrozoobenthos in riffle (substrate size structure) and in shoreline (macrophyte community composition and structure) mesohabitats. The diversity of macroinvertebrate communities was highest in riparian mesohabitats compared to stillwater and torrential ones. Saprobic indices increased in downstream direction, thus indicating the decline of water quality.

Macroinvertebrate Communities and Environment in a Southern African Mountain Stream

1988 ◽  
Vol 45 (12) ◽  
pp. 2168-2181 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. King ◽  
J. A. Day ◽  
P. R. Hurly ◽  
M-P. Henshall-Howard ◽  
B. R. Davies
Keyword(s):  
Community Structure ◽  
Environmental Variables ◽  
Mediterranean Ecosystems ◽  
Mountain Stream ◽  
Functional Feeding Groups ◽  
Stepwise Discriminant Analysis ◽  
Macroinvertebrate Communities ◽  
Strong Correlations ◽  
Stream Community ◽  
Community Changes

In a study of a second-order southern African stream, complementary classification and multidimensional scaling (MDS) techniques revealed longitudinal changes in macroinvertebrate community structure, but no temporal changes. Stepwise discriminant analysis and multiple linear regression were used to identify environmental variables correlated with the community changes but produced conflicting results depending on the information used, possibly because of strong correlations between some of the variables. The MDS plot of biotic samples illustrated that potassium levels correlated most strongly with community distribution. Because of the large number of variables now shown worldwide to correlate with faunal distributions, we suggest ways to choose the variables to suit the kind of study to be undertaken. Attempts to assign the invertebrates to functional feeding groups (FFGs) were unsatisfactory as the relevant categories are poorly defined and often inadequate for classifying the fauna. We suggest that until these categories are more clearly defined, and more uniformly applied, concepts relating to FFGs cannot be tested satisfactorily. The stream community in Langrivier is more similar to communities found in two other mediterranean ecosystems than to those in other southern African rivers, probably because of the greater predictability of flow in the former.

Stream channel network analysis applied to colony-wide feeding structures in a Permian bryozoan from Greenland

Paleobiology ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 287-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus M. Key ◽  
Patrick N. Wyse Jackson ◽  
Louis J. Vitiello
Keyword(s):  
Network Analysis ◽  
Stream Channel ◽  
Drainage Pattern ◽  
Channel Network ◽  
Channel Networks ◽  
Closed Basin ◽  
Natural Stream ◽  
Large Size ◽  
Colony Surface ◽  
The Law

Colony-wide feeding currents are a common feature of many bryozoan colonies. These feeding currents are centered on excurrent macular chimneys that expel previously filtered water away from the colony surface. In some bryozoans these macular chimneys consist of a branching channel network that converges at a point in the center of the chimney. The bifurcating channels of the maculae are analogous to a stream channel network in a closed basin with centripetal drainage. The classical methods of stream channel network analysis from geomorphology are here used to quantitatively analyze the number and length of macular channels in bryozoans. This approach is applied to a giant branch of the trepostome bryozoan Tabulipora from the Early Permian Kim Fjelde Formation in North Greenland. Its large size allowed 18 serial tangential peels to be made through the 8-mm-thick exozone. The peels intersected two stellate maculae as defined by contiguous exilapores. The lengths of 1460 channels radiating from the maculae were measured and their Horton-Strahler stream order and Shreve magnitude scored.We hypothesize that if fossil bryozoan maculae function as excurrent water chimneys, then they should conform to Horton's laws of stream networks and behave like closed basins with centripetal drainage. Results indicate that the stellate maculae in this bryozoan behaved liked stream channel networks exhibiting landscape maturation and stream capture. They conformed to the Law of Stream Number. They have a Bifurcation Ratio that falls within the range of natural stream channel networks. They showed a pattern opposite that expected by the Law of Stream Lengths in response to behavior characteristic of a centripetal drainage pattern in a closed basin. Thus, the stellate maculae in this bryozoan probably functioned as excurrent water chimneys with the radiating channels serving to efficiently collect the previously filtered water, conducting it to the central chimney for expulsion away from the colony surface.

Natural stream channel-storage

1936 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert E. Horton
Keyword(s):  
Stream Channel ◽  
Natural Stream
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