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ANTHROPOGENIC INFLUENCES ON STREAMS AND THEIR RECEIVING SALT MARSHES
Citation:
Lussier, S, C Wigand, S. daSilva, M Charpentier, S Cormier, AND D J. Klemm. ANTHROPOGENIC INFLUENCES ON STREAMS AND THEIR RECEIVING SALT MARSHES. Presented at North American Benthological Society (NABS), Athens, GA, May 27-31, 2003.
Description:
Land use and anthropogenic activities in watersheds affect biological, chemical, and physical conditions in streams and receiving coastal salt marshes. Our objective is to compare indicators of stream condition and riparian vegetation with analagous indicators of the coastal salt marshes to which they discharge, over a range of anthropogenic impacts. We examined the linkages among stream conditions, riparian zone vegetation, the biotic integrity of coastal salt marshes, and land use at the watershed scale. We used the Rapid Bioassessment Protocol for wadeable streams to collect data for biological, physicochemical, and habitat indicators in six Rhode Island watersheds along a range of residential land use. Field transects were used to measure riparian zonation and vegetation type at each stream site. We compared our indicators from the streams to the corresponding metrics of structure and integrity from salt marshes in the same watersheds. Results showed that increased residential land use in watersheds adversely affected conditions in streams, riparian zones, and salt marshes. By providing information on habitat degradation upstream and associated salt marsh degradation, our results can help us understand the relationships between conditions in watersheds, their streams, and the salt marshes they feed.