Grantee Research Project Results
2004 Progress Report: Testing Watershed Classifications Relevant to Bioassessment, Conservation Planning, and Watershed Restoration
EPA Grant Number: R830594Title: Testing Watershed Classifications Relevant to Bioassessment, Conservation Planning, and Watershed Restoration
Investigators: Hawkins, Charles P. , Schmidt, John C. , Tarboton, David G. , Stevenson, R. Jan , Lammert Khoury, Mary , Baker, Michelle , Cao, Yong
Current Investigators: Hawkins, Charles P. , Tarboton, David G. , Stevenson, R. Jan , Higgins, Jonathan , Lammert Khoury, Mary , Baker, Michelle , Cao, Yong
Institution: Utah State University , Nature Conservancy, The , Michigan State University
Current Institution: Utah State University , Michigan State University , Nature Conservancy, The
EPA Project Officer: Packard, Benjamin H
Project Period: January 1, 2003 through December 31, 2005 (Extended to November 30, 2006)
Project Period Covered by this Report: January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2005
Project Amount: $853,515
RFA: Development of Watershed Classification Systems for Diagnosis of Biological Impairment in Watersheds (2002) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Watersheds , Water
Objective:
The objective of this research project is to test the effectiveness of a systematic approach for developing watershed classification schemes useful for environmental assessment and monitoring of aquatic ecosystems. We will identify the specific watershed classification schemes of greatest utility for biological assessment, conservation planning, and the diagnosis of anthropogenic stressors for stream ecosystems in the western United States. To address this objective, we will answer four questions:
- How effectively do classifications derived from single types of watershed and reach attributes perform in partitioning naturally occurring biotic variation?
- Can sequential application of classifications based on different types of watershed attributes provide insight regarding the stressors affecting aquatic ecosystems?
- Can a watershed classification derived from a multivariate analysis of the joint variation in different types of watershed attributes achieve greater effectiveness in partitioning biotic variation among watersheds than classifications based on single factors?
- To what degree can we infer aspects of ecosystem function from watershed classifications that predict biotic structure (i.e., composition)?
Progress Summary:
The majority of this project year was devoted to sampling approximately 105 field sites to document the response of benthic invertebrates, periphyton, and litter decomposition to stress caused by four types of human-caused watershed alterations: urbanization (Wastach Front, Utah, and Portland, Oregon), hydrologic modification (northern Utah), nutrient alteration associated with agriculture (eastern Montana and western North Dakota), thermal alteration associated with livestock grazing (northern Utah and southern Wyoming), and sediment and channel alteration associated with forest practices (northern Idaho, western Montana). We also continued to work on deriving geographic information system (GIS) watershed coverages necessary for classifying watersheds in terms of their likely responsiveness and vulnerability to human-caused stress.
Watershed Topography
We have obtained Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data for the entire western United States and have delineated watershed boundaries for most of the 1,000 plus reference watersheds and 105 altered watersheds.
Hydrologic Regimes
Mr. Kiran Chinnayakanahalli is working under the direction of Dr. David Tarboton to derive a method of predicting the type of hydrologic regime that best characterizes ungauged basins. To date, we have started developing program code to automatically delineate many watershed boundaries from DEM data and extract topographic traits relevant to flow characteristics. We also have obtained long-term climate data for the western United States, which will be used, in part, to predict the hydrologic regime that best characterizes a basin.
Geochemistry
Mr. John Olson (Ph.D. student) is working under the direction of Dr. Charles Hawkins to derive a simplified classification of surficial geology that describes the natural differences among watersheds in both their capacity to provide nutrients to receiving waters and the type of sediments delivered to stream channels. This work requires translation of the hundreds of geology classes in use to a common classification system that is relevant to stream ecosystem structure and function, and simple enough for general application. This work is approximately 25 percent completed.
Thermal Regimes
We have obtained long-term air temperature data from the Oregon Climate Center with which we will describe broad differences among watersheds in their thermal properties. Ryan Hill (Ph.D. student) is working under the supervision of Drs. Hawkins and Tarboton to develop simple models to predict stream water temperatures from relationships between watershed size, flow regime, topography, air temperature, and solar insolation.
Channel Geomorphology
Our work on channel geomorphology is focusing on classification of stream reaches based on estimates of valley width and channel slope derived from DEMs. This work is being validated by comparing DEM estimates with field-based measurements, and development of the method for reach classification is approximately 90 percent complete.
Future Activities:
During the upcoming reporting period we will focus on two primary tasks: (1) continued work on deriving the watershed classifications necessary to test our hypotheses; and (2) processing of invertebrate and periphyton samples collected from our field sites.
Journal Articles on this Report : 1 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
Other project views: | All 39 publications | 15 publications in selected types | All 13 journal articles |
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Type | Citation | ||
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Ostermiller JD, Hawkins CP. Effects of sampling error on bioassessments of stream ecosystems: application to RIVPACS-type models. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 2004;23(2):363-382. |
R830594 (2004) R830594 (2005) R830594 (Final) |
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Supplemental Keywords:
watershed classification, indicators, bioassessment, restoration, conservation, diagnostics, modeling, multivariate analysis, aquatic ecosystems, digital elevation model,, RFA, Scientific Discipline, INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, ECOSYSTEMS, Water, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Aquatic Ecosystems & Estuarine Research, Water & Watershed, Aquatic Ecosystem, Water Quality Monitoring, Monitoring/Modeling, Terrestrial Ecosystems, Environmental Monitoring, Ecological Risk Assessment, Biology, Watersheds, anthropogenic stress, bioassessment, anthropogenic processes, ecosystem monitoring, watershed management, biodiversity, conservation, diagnostic indicators, ecosystem indicators, biota diversity, aquatic ecosystems, bioindicators, watershed sustainablility, water quality, biological indicators, ecosystem stress, watershed assessment, conservation planning, ecosystem response, aquatic biota, restoration planning, watershed restorationRelevant Websites:
http://www.cnr.usu.edu/wmc Exit
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.