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INDICATORS OF ANTHROPOGENIC DISTURBANCES IN STREAMS AND RECEIVING SALT MARSHES
Citation:
Lussier, S M., S. daSilva, C Wigand, M Charpentier, S M. Cormier, AND D J. Klemm. INDICATORS OF ANTHROPOGENIC DISTURBANCES IN STREAMS AND RECEIVING SALT MARSHES. Presented at North Atlantic Chapter of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Portsmouth, RI, June 9-11, 2004.
Description:
Land use and anthropogenic activities in watersheds affect biological, chemical, and physical conditions in streams and receiving coastal salt marshes. Our objective was to compare indicators of stream and riparian condition with analogous indicators of the coastal salt marshes into which they discharge. We explored the relationships among watershed land use, stream biological integrity, riparian condition, salt marsh biological integrity, and marsh zonation. 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 vegetation structure and species richness at each stream site. Total nitrate was measured in streams and salt marshes as an indicator of nutrient enrichment. We compared our stream indicators to the corresponding metrics of structure and integrity from salt marshes in the same watersheds. Results of graphical comparisons showed that adverse effects in salt marshes correspond with degradation of tributary streams and with residential land use in the watersheds. By providing information on habitat condition upstream and associated salt marsh condition, our results can help us understand the impacts of watershed disturbances on streams and the salt marshes they feed.