Abstract |
The effects that urbanization and stormwater runoff have on the physical and chemical conditions in natural streams have been well documented. Altered land usage in the watershed results in fluctuating hydrologic regimes which, in turn, destabilize both the channel geometry and the composition of the streambed. Increased peak discharges, rapidly rising and falling hydrographs, and channelization cause increased erosion and silt deposition. Nutrient loading, and introduction of potentially toxic substances also increase as a further result of disturbance. This study was undertaken in order to determine some of the causal relationships between the physical/chemical changes that occur following urbanization and the biological condition of a stream system. (Copyright (c) 1981 E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung.) |