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EFFECTS OF FLOW REGIME ON THE ECOLOGY OF EXPERIMENTAL CHANNELS SIMULATING PRE-DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGED POST-DEVELOPMENT CONDITIONS
Citation:
TAULBEE, K., C. T. NIETCH, D. S. BROWN, M. LOWRY, B. RAMAKRISHNAN, AND J. TOMPKINS. EFFECTS OF FLOW REGIME ON THE ECOLOGY OF EXPERIMENTAL CHANNELS SIMULATING PRE-DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGED POST-DEVELOPMENT CONDITIONS. Presented at North American Benthological Society, Anchorage, AK, June 04 - 09, 2006.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public
Description:
Best management practices (BMPs) are placed in streams or watersheds to mitigate the effects of hydrological, chemical, or physical stressors resulting from anthropogenic activities. However, assessments of BMP effectiveness rarely consider the effects of BMP implementation on the overall ecological condition of streams. In a preliminary study at the U.S. EPA's experimental stream facility in Milford, OH, we simulated hydrological flow regimes for small streams under pre-development and managed post-development (following BMP implementation) conditions. Sediment size fraction, concentrations of intergravel and surface water nutrient species, periphyton biomass and chlorophyll-a concentrations, invertebrate community structure and biomass, and per capita invertebrate emigration rates were measured. In addition, we measured carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in sediments, periphyton, invertebrates, and drift samples. Stream discharge, temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and conductivity were continuously monitored. Similar measurements were simultaneously collected in several headwater streams draining catchments of varying land use. Results of this research will provide data for field-scale watershed models, with the eventual goal of integrating site specific BMP responses into a watershed-level management system for large-scale water quality protection.