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Communication at the NABS Annual meeting, Keystone, 2000
(229) A SUGGESTED INDICATOR & BIOCRITERIA APPROACH FOR ASSESSING STREAMS DRAINING URBAN & AGRICULTURAL CATCHMENTS.
S.A. Bryce1, R.M. Hughes1, and P.R. Kaufmann2. 1Dynamac, 200 SW 35th St., Corvallis, OR 97333, 2USEPA, 200 SW 35th St., Corvallis, OR 97333
The Willamette Valley of western Oregon has been intensively farmed for over a century and it contains at least 75% of the state’s human population. We sampled a set of randomly-selected streams ranging from entirely urban or agricultural to 80% tree farm. We quantitatively sampled instream physical and chemical habitat, riparian and catchment condition, and macrobenthos, fish, and riparian bird assemblages. For the three biological assemblages, we developed multiple metrics or models that were evaluated against multivariate estimates of disturbance to assess responsiveness and with repeat sampling to examine measurement precision. Ultimately the metrics or taxa deemed most appropriate were combined into indices or models that were scored from 0 to 100. Index scores were also calibrated using historical species information to help set expectations for the numbers of species expected under minimally disturbed conditions. Indices and models discriminated urban from agricultural stream reaches and most sites were found to be marginally or severely impaired.
Presented at 8:00 AM on Thursday, June 1, 2000 in Application of Biocriteria / Standards to Highly Stressed Rivers and Streams
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