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MANAGING RISKS USING MEASUREMENTS OF STREAM COMMUNITY METABOLISM, NUTRIENT AND SEDIMENT DYNAMICS AND GEOMORPHOLOGY IN THE LMR WATERSHED
Citation:
Morrison**, M A., C A. Schultz**, J SchubauerBerigan, B Daniel*, M E. Troyer, AND M. B. Griffith. MANAGING RISKS USING MEASUREMENTS OF STREAM COMMUNITY METABOLISM, NUTRIENT AND SEDIMENT DYNAMICS AND GEOMORPHOLOGY IN THE LMR WATERSHED. Presented at Little Miami River Watershed: Linking Research to Restoration, Grailville, OH, 3/7/2003.
Description:
The goal of this project, and associated research, is to establish thresholds for ecological response to watershed disturbance and to develop tools and insights that will help us manage risks. Changes in the amount and types of land use in a watershed can result in increased risks from flooding and non-point source pollution. Understanding the ecological response of stream communities to watershed resource use and development, and the accompanying non-point source (NPS) loading of nutrients and sediment, requires better mechanisms that link stream structure and function with watershed land use. The physical structure of stream channels (i.e. geomorphology) provides a baseline for ecological health, but responds differently to levels of disturbance according to landscape variables such as slope and soil type. Measurement of ecological parameters such as primary production and respiration in streams, across land-use gradients, will help establish useful thresholds for ecological response. One of the most fundamental cycles in stream ecology is the diel pattern of dissolved oxygen concentration, which increases during daylight hours in response to photosynthesis and decreases at night when photosynthesis ceases. These biologically driven cycles can affect (and provide an indication of) the form and binding patterns of nutrients and other chemicals in streams. Sediments themselves can alter stream structure and affect stream metabolisms. As part of a larger, ongoing, coordinated study, we propose to examine these relationships in a selected set of streams in the Little Miami River Watershed. The study will employ YSI 6600 Multi-Parameter Water Quality Monitors to measure dissolved oxygen and ancillary parameters such as pH and temperature at 5 minute intervals for a 72 hour period. By comparing patterns of stream metabolism with patterns of nutrient (concentration and availability), sediment (loading and size characteristics), hydrologic and physical habitat (geomorphology), linked with studies of sediment nutrient binding relationships, we hope to develop a better understanding of the mechanisms driving ecological change in stream ecosystems.