Citation:

Nash, M S., D J. Chaloud, AND S E. Franson. ASSOCIATION OF LANDSCAPE METRICS TO SURFACE WATER BIOLOGY IN THE SAVANNAH RIVER BASIN. JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICS AND STATISTICS 1(1):29-34, (2005).

Impact/Purpose:

The primary objectives of this research are to:

Develop methodologies so that landscape indicator values generated from different sensors on different dates (but in the same areas) are comparable; differences in metric values result from landscape changes and not differences in the sensors;

Quantify relationships between landscape metrics generated from wall-to-wall spatial data and (1) specific parameters related to water resource conditions in different environmental settings across the US, including but not limited to nutrients, sediment, and benthic communities, and (2) multi-species habitat suitability;

Develop and validate multivariate models based on quantification studies;

Develop GIS/model assessment protocols and tools to characterize risk of nutrient and sediment TMDL exceedence;

Complete an initial draft (potentially web based) of a national landscape condition assessment.

This research directly supports long-term goals established in ORDs multiyear plans related to GPRA Goal 2 (Water) and GPRA Goal 4 (Healthy Communities and Ecosystems), although funding for this task comes from Goal 4. Relative to the GRPA Goal 2 multiyear plan, this research is intended to "provide tools to assess and diagnose impairment in aquatic systems and the sources of associated stressors." Relative to the Goal 4 Multiyear Plan this research is intended to (1) provide states and tribes with an ability to assess the condition of waterbodies in a scientifically defensible and representative way, while allowing for aggregation and assessment of trends at multiple scales, (2) assist Federal, State and Local managers in diagnosing the probable cause and forecasting future conditions in a scientifically defensible manner to protect and restore ecosystems, and (3) provide Federal, State and Local managers with a scientifically defensible way to assess current and future ecological conditions, and probable causes of impairments, and a way to evaluate alternative future management scenarios.

Description:

Surface water quality for the Savannah River basin was assessed using water biology and landscape metrics. Two multivariate analyses, partial least square and cannonical correlation, were used to describe how the structural variation in landscape variable(s) that contribute the most to variation in surface water quality. Our results showed that the key landscape metrices in this study area were: percent forest, percent of total area in agriculture (row crops + pasture) on moderately erodible soils, percent of total area with slopes greater than 3 percent, and stream density. The first two canonical variates describe the linear combinations of the two data sets (r=0.74 and 0.63), weighted mainly by percent of total area with slopes greater than 3 percent, taxa richness of sensitive insects to pollution (EPT; Ephemeroptera-Plecoptera-Trichoptera Index), algal growth potential and percent total area in agriculture on moderately erodible soils.

Although this work was reviewed by EPA and approved for publication, it may not necessarily reflect official Agency policy.

Record Details: