You are here:
FIELD TESTS OF GEOGRAPHICALLY-DEPENDENT VS. THRESHOLD-BASED WATERSHED CLASSIFICATION SCHEMES IN THE GREAT LAKES BASIN
Citation:
Detenbeck, N E., C M. Elonen, L E. Anderson, T. M. Jicha, D L. Taylor, S L. Batterman, AND M F. Moffett. FIELD TESTS OF GEOGRAPHICALLY-DEPENDENT VS. THRESHOLD-BASED WATERSHED CLASSIFICATION SCHEMES IN THE GREAT LAKES BASIN. Presented at 44th Annual International Conference of International Association for Great Lakes Research, Green Bay, WI, June 10-14, 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. Main and interactive effects of watershed storage and forest fragmentation on watershed exports, habitat quality, community composition and food-web relationships were compared within and across two hydrigeomorphic regions within the Northern Lakes and Forest Ecoregion. In 1997-1998, 24 second order stream watersheds were selected to establish a 3-way factorial design. In 1998-1999, third order watersheds in high and low fragmentation classes were selected along gradients of watershed storage within each region. Hydrologic regimes and basin were affected by regional influences, storage and fragmentation. For third-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.