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Communication at the NABS Annual meeting, Keystone, 2000
(97) QUANTIFICATION OF THE ACCEPTABLE RANGE OF BIOLOGICAL INTEGRITY IN MAINE
RIVERS AND STREAMS.
S.P. Davies1, D.L. Courtemanch1, L. Tsomides1, and F. Drummond2. 1Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Augusta, ME, 2University of Maine, Orono, ME
Maine has statutorily defined the US Clean Water Act term "biological
integrity" in the State water quality standards law. The law is
ecologically descriptive, provides for a range of conditions and contains
explicit technical definitions, for ecological terms, that guide
interpretation of biological findings. Maine's aquatic life management
classes range from "as naturally occurs" for Class A through "maintenance
of structure and function" for the minimum State standard, Class C. The
State also has developed numeric criteria in support of the narrative
standards, consisting of a predictive model derived from benthic
macroinvertebrate community data. The predictive model is a set of
linear discriminant functions that provide the probability of group
membership (e.g. Class A, Class B, Class C, or non-attainment), based on
quantification of the biological attributes described within each
statutory aquatic life class. In essence, the State has quantitatively
described goals for biological integrity, across a range of acceptable
water quality, and developed an unambiguous means to report on the
aquatic life attainment status of sampled rivers and streams.
Presented at 11:00 AM on Tuesday, May 30, 2000 in Determining Good Sites from Bad II
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