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Stressors that Can Potentially Cause Biological Impairment

• Dissolved oxygen (DO) regime alteration
• Hydrologic regime alteration (includes flow or depth conditions; timing, duration, frequency etc.)
• Nutrient regime alteration
• Organic-matter regime alteration
• pH regime alteration
• Salinity regime alteration
• Bed sediment load changes, including siltation
• Suspended solids and/or turbidity alteration
• Water temperature regime alteration
• Habitat destruction
• Habitat fragmentation (e.g., barriers to movement, exclusion from habitat)
• Physical crushing and trampling
• Toxic substances
  • Herbicides and fungicides
  • Halogens and halides (e.g., chloride, trihalomethanes)
  • Fish-killing agents (e.g., rotenone)
  • Insecticides
  • Lampricides
  • Metals
  • Molluscicides
  • Organic solvents (e.g., benzene, phenol)
  • Other hydrocarbons (e.g., dioxins, PCBs)
  • Endocrine disrupting chemicals
  • Mixed, cumulative effect
• Interspecies competition
• Complications due to small populations (e.g., inbreeding, stochastic fluctuation, etc.)
• Genetic alteration (e.g., hybridization)
• Overharvesting or legal, intentional collecting or killing
• Parasitism
• Predation
• Poaching, vandalism, harassment, or indiscriminate killing
• Unintentional capture or killing (e.g., artillery explosions, roadway casualties)
• Vertebrate animal damage control (includes trapping, shooting, poisoning)
• Radiation exposure increase (e.g., increased UV radiation)

Source:
Adapted from Richter et al. (1996)

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