scholarly journals Associated Use Attainment Response between Multiple Aquatic Assemblage Indicators for Evaluating Catchment, Habitat, Water Quality, and Contaminants

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas P. Simon ◽  
Charles C. Morris
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Habitat Quality ◽  
Assemblage Structure ◽  
Watershed Scale ◽  
Indicator Organisms ◽  
Cumulative Stress ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
And Function ◽  
Broad Scale

Use attainability analysis (UAA) at a watershed scale typically relies on the assumption that indicator organisms are responding similarly to the same environmental stressor. Factors explaining variance in fish, crayfish, and macroinvertebrate assemblage structure and function were investigated with emphasis on catchment and reach scale land use, habitat, contaminants, and water quality variables. Habitat quality scores ranged from 25 to 85 (average 61.36±10.08). The substrate score, instream cover, riffle-run score, and channel score were primary factors contributing to declining habitat quality. Factor analysis found that four factors explained 69% of the contributed variance in fish assemblage, two factors accounted for 56% of variance in macroinvertebrate assemblages, and two factors explained 49% of the variance in crayfish assemblages. Overall drivers of assemblage structure were associated with broad scale issues of wastewater treatment, groundwater, and land use. Our results show that fish, macroinvertebrate, and crayfish assemblages respond to similar broad scale stimulus; however, the specific constituents responsible for the stress may vary with the magnitude of the cumulative stress, which may be expressed by each organismal group differently. Our data suggest that varying organismal groups can respond independently and stress reflected in one assemblage may not necessarily be observed in another since each organismal group is measuring different aspects of the environment.

Landscape Influences on Stream Habitats and Biological Assemblages

2006 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Stream Water ◽  
Riparian Buffers ◽  
Physical Habitat ◽  
Land Uses ◽  
Stream Water Quality ◽  
Agricultural Streams ◽  
And Function

<em>Abstract.</em>—Ecologists recognize that surrounding land use can influence the structure and function of aquatic ecosystems, but few studies have explicitly examined the relative effects of different types of land use on stream ecosystems. We quantified the relationships between different land uses (forested, urban, agricultural with or without riparian buffers) and stream physicochemical variables and resident fish assemblages in 21 southwestern Michigan streams. These streams were located within a single basin (Kalamazoo River) and ecoregion to minimize differences in natural landscape conditions. Streams responded to a gradient of land use, with forested streams having the least degraded water quality, physical habitat, and fish assemblages, and agricultural streams lacking buffers being the most degraded. Urban and agricultural streams with buffers displayed characteristics intermediate to forested and agricultural streams lacking buffers. In general, habitat complexity and water quality declined across this land-use gradient from forested to agricultural streams, whereas fish density, richness, and dominance by tolerant species increased along the land-use gradient. Although urban streams had lower percentages of altered land use (i.e., <40% urban) in their catchments compared to agricultural streams (i.e., >50% agriculture), both land uses appeared to have similar detrimental effects on streams suggesting higher per unit area impacts of urbanization on streams. The presence of forested riparian buffers along agricultural streams increased the complexity of instream habitat, but resulted in few benefits to fish assemblages, suggesting that stream water quality in altered landscapes may be constraining fish assemblages more than physical habitat.

Impacts of land use and hydrological alterations on water quality and fish assemblage structure in headwater Pampean streams (Argentina)

2021 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Martín Paredes del Puerto ◽  
Ignacio Daniel García ◽  
Tomás Maiztegui ◽  
Ariel Hernán Paracampo ◽  
Leandro Rodrigues Capítulo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Fish Assemblage ◽  
Assemblage Structure ◽  
Fish Assemblage Structure ◽  
Pampean Streams

scholarly journals Riparian conservation management needs habitat quality mapping

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 15-23
Author(s):  
Lyndre Nel
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Land Use ◽  
River Water ◽  
Habitat Quality ◽  
Conservation Management ◽  
Habitat Degradation ◽  
River Water Quality ◽  
Riparian Habitat ◽  
Conservation Programs ◽  
Human Welfare

Riparian habitat quality has a significant influence on the water quality of rivers, primary resources for urban and agricultural use. River water quality deteriorates where normal ecological functioning is disrupted by harmful impacts from nearby land-use types. Important rivers are typically managed and protected by government-led conservation programs. These programs often lack a key tool for efficient conservation management, habitat quality mapping. The Berg River, an important water source in South Africa, was used as a case-study to assess how habitat quality mapping could broaden the current scope of river conservation programs. The river faces threats from nearby urban settlements, industrial areas, mining, encroachment, and agricultural practices. The aim of this study was to develop habitat quality and habitat degradation maps for a section of the Berg River to assess the value that mapping holds for conservation managers and spatial planners. InVEST modelling software and ArcGIS was used to produce these habitat quality maps based on land-use/land-cover and threat impact data. The resulting maps showed several specific locations of heavily threatened and degraded riparian habitat that had not specifically been included in current government conservation management or spatial planning. Habitat quality mapping is an important tool that conservation managers and spatial planners can use to successfully address habitat degradation and protection while facing resource limitations, such as lack of funding. Oversight of degraded riparian habitats will lead to further decreases in river water quality, adversely affecting human welfare and local economies.

scholarly journals Cryptosporidium genotyping and land use mapping for hazard identification and source tracking in a small mixed rural–urban watershed in Southeastern Brazil

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosane C. Andrade ◽  
Rafael K. X. Bastos ◽  
Paula D. Bevilacqua ◽  
Rosângela V. Andrade
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Hazard Identification ◽  
Source Tracking ◽  
Southeastern Brazil ◽  
Urban Watershed ◽  
Indicator Organisms ◽  
Water Quality Variables ◽  
Physical And Chemical ◽  
Chemical Water

Abstract Cryptosporidium, faecal indicator organisms and physical and chemical water quality variables were monitored in a small mixed rural–urban watershed in southeastern Brazil. Cryptosporidium was present in 43% of 117 water samples analysed by microscopy. Concentrations varied from non-detects to 14 oocysts L−1. All samples were further analysed by nested-PCR, and Cryptosporidium spp. were detected in 24% (28) of them. Sequencing at the 18S rRNA locus gave high quality sequences in eight samples, revealing the presence of Cryptosporidium parvum. Cryptosporidium was not correlated with faecal indicator organisms (total coliforms, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus and coliphages), nor with physical and chemical water quality variables (e.g. turbidity, electrical conductivity and chemical oxygen demand), but it was with farm animal density (number of animals per ha). Land use mapping reinforced the suggestions from Cryptosporidium genotyping that both animals (livestock) and humans are potential sources to environmental contamination with oocysts within the watershed.

scholarly journals Spatially Varying and Scale-Dependent Relationships of Land Use Types with Stream Water Quality

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 1673 ◽  
Author(s):  
Se-Rin Park ◽  
Sang-Woo Lee
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Quality Indicators ◽  
Stream Water ◽  
Watershed Scale ◽  
Stream Water Quality ◽  
Water Quality Indicators ◽  
Land Use Types ◽  
Forested Areas ◽  
Spatially Varying

Understanding the complex relationships between land use and stream water quality is critical for water pollution control and watershed management. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between land use types and water quality indicators at multiple spatial scales, namely, the watershed and riparian scales, using the ordinary least squares (OLS) and geographically weighted regression (GWR) models. GWR extended traditional regression models, such as OLS to address the spatial variations among variables. Our results indicated that the water quality indicators were significantly affected by agricultural and forested areas at both scales. We found that extensive agricultural land use had negative effects on water quality indicators, whereas, forested areas had positive effects on these indicators. The results also indicated that the watershed scale is effective for management and regulation of watershed land use, as the predictive power of the models is much greater at the watershed scale. The maps of estimated local parameters and local R2 in GWR models showcased the spatially varying relationships and indicated that the effects of land use on water quality varied over space. The results of this study reinforced the importance of watershed management in the planning, restoration, and management of stream water quality. It is also suggested that planners and managers may need to adopt different strategies, considering watershed characteristics—such as topographic features and meteorological conditions—and the source of pollutants, in managing stream water quality.

scholarly journals Identifying wastewater management tradeoffs: Costs, nearshore water quality, and implications for marine coastal ecosystems in Kona, Hawai‘i

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. e0257125
Author(s):  
Christopher A. Wada ◽  
Kimberly M. Burnett ◽  
Brytne K. Okuhata ◽  
Jade M. S. Delevaux ◽  
Henrietta Dulai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Habitat Quality ◽  
Marine Environment ◽  
Substantial Reduction ◽  
Treated Wastewater ◽  
Wastewater Management ◽  
Management Scenarios ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Marine Habitat

Untreated and minimally treated wastewater discharged into the environment have the potential to adversely affect groundwater dependent ecosystems and nearshore marine health. Addressing this issue requires a systems approach that links land use and wastewater management decisions to potential impacts on the nearshore marine environment via changes in water quality and quantity. To that end, a framework was developed to assess decisions that have cascading effects across multiple elements of the ridge-to-reef system. In an application to Kona (Hawai‘i, USA), eight land use and wastewater management scenarios were evaluated in terms of wastewater system upgrade costs and wastewater related nutrient loads in groundwater, which eventually discharge to nearshore waters, resulting in potential impacts to marine habitat quality. Without any upgrades of cesspools or the existing wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), discharges of nutrients are expected to increase substantially with permitted development, with potential detrimental impacts to the marine environment. Results suggest that converting all of the existing cesspools to aerobic treatment units (ATU) and upgrading the existing WWTP to R-1 quality provide the highest protection to nearshore marine habitat at a cost of $569 million in present value terms. Other wastewater management options were less effective but also less costly. For example, targeted cesspool conversion (a combination of septic and ATU installation) in conjunction with the WWTP upgrade still provided a substantial reduction in nutrients and potential impacts to marine habitat quality relative to the present situation at a price point roughly $100 million less than the entirely ATU option. Of note, results were more sensitive to the inclusion of the WWTP upgrade option than they were to assumptions regarding the efficiency of the cesspool conversion technologies. The model outputs also suggest that the spatial distribution of potential impacts should be carefully considered when comparing different wastewater management scenarios. When evaluated separately, the WWTP option reduced total nutrients by more than the targeted cesspool conversion option at a fraction of the cost. However, potential improvements in marine habitat quality only occurred in the immediate vicinity of the WWTP, whereas the benefits under targeted cesspool conversion were more evenly distributed along the coast.

Monitoring land use change in the Lake Taupo catchment between 1975, 1990 and 2002 using satellite remote sensing data

2007 ◽  
pp. 17-22
Author(s):  
H. Lilienthal ◽  
A. Brauer ◽  
K. Betteridge ◽  
E. Schnug
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Water Quality ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Land Use Change ◽  
Satellite Remote Sensing ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Native Vegetation ◽  
Lake Water Quality ◽  
Livestock Farming ◽  
Slow Decline

Conversion of native vegetation into farmed grassland in the Lake Taupo catchment commenced in the late 1950s. The lake's iconic value is being threatened by the slow decline in lake water quality that has become apparent since the 1970s. Keywords: satellite remote sensing, nitrate leaching, land use change, livestock farming, land management

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