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FIELD TESTS OF GEOGRAPHICALLY-DEPENDENT VS. THRESHOLD-BASED WATERSHED CLASSIFICATION SCHEMED IN THE GREAT LAKES BASIN
Citation:
Detenbeck, N E., C M. Elonen, L E. Anderson, T. M. Jicha, D L. Taylor, AND S L. Batterman. FIELD TESTS OF GEOGRAPHICALLY-DEPENDENT VS. THRESHOLD-BASED WATERSHED CLASSIFICATION SCHEMED IN THE GREAT LAKES BASIN. Presented at North American Benthological Society Meeting, LaCrosse, WI, June 3-8, 2001.
Description:
We compared classification schemes based on watershed storage (wetland + lake area/watershed area) and forest fragmentation with a geographically-based classification scheme for two case studies involving 1)Lake Superior tributaries and 2) watersheds of riverine coastal wetlands on Lake Michigan. Effects of watershed storage and forest fragmentation on watershed exports, habitat quality, community composition and food-web relationships were compared within across two hydrogeomorphic regions within the Northern Lakes and Forest Ecoregion. In 1997-1998, 3rd order watersheds in each fragmentation class were selected along gradients of watershed storage in each region. Hydrologic regimes and baseflow and snowmelt water quality in second-order streams of the western Lake Superior basin were affected by region, storage, and fragmentation. For 3rd-order streams, significant effects of storage, fragmentation, and fragmentation by storage interactions were more frequent, while region by watershed interactions were relatively rare. Use of a stratified random sampling scheme for stream water quality based on both region and watershed attributes improved assessments of reference condition, differences in regional sensitivity, and potential causes of impairment.