SFS Annual Meeting

6/06/2024  |   13:30 - 13:45   |  Salon 10

Hydrologic and Environmental Thresholds of Fish and Macroinvertebrate Assemblage Structure Across Stream Flow Regimes Identifying hydrologic and environmental thresholds is a goal of many environmental studies and decision making. We compiled landscape-scale, geo-referenced species occurrence datasets to examine and compare patterns of fish and macroinvertebrate assemblage and species-level turnover across flow regimes. A gradient forest machine learning approach was used to quantify multi-species threshold responses along hydrologic and watershed-scale disturbance gradients in groundwater (GW), runoff (RO), and intermittent streams (INT) in the Ozark and Ouachita Interior Highlands and Gulf Coastal Plains, USA. Preliminary results indicate spatial, climate, geology and soils were of high importance for assemblage turnover for both fish and macroinvertebrates, whereas hydrology, hydrologic alteration and land use were of relatively low importance. For fish, timing of high flow events was especially important in GW streams, whereas annual runoff was important in both RO and INT streams. For macroinvertebrates, timing of high flows was important in all flow regimes. Environmental thresholds were species-dependent and were common for species, but less so for assemblages. The results of our analysis will inform multi-species conservation and management through identification of local and regional environment-ecology relationships across different flow regimes. Results of this study also provide an understanding of complex nonlinear environmental and disturbance threshold relationships driving patterns in fish and macroinvertebrate assemblages and species in streams.

Daniel Magoulick (Primary Presenter/Author), Arkansas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Arkansas, danmag@uark.edu;

Chloe Moore (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Arkansas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Arkansas, chloe9mo@gmail.com;

J. Tyler Fox (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), The Nature Conservancy, john.fox@tnc.org;

Sarah Sorensen (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Arkansas, sfsorens@uark.edu;

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6/06/2024  |   13:45 - 14:00   |  Salon 10

Watersheds, Catchments, Riparian Buffers, and Stream Networks: Do Bugs Care about Space? How does the extent and configuration of landscape metrics and onsite stressors interact with Euclidean and stream network distances to explain variation in stream condition index in a river basin? I am using data from Virginia Department of Environmental Quality's Probabilistic Monitoring of Streams to answer that question. Stream Condition Index (SCI) was calculated from benthic macroinvertebrates at 199 stations in the James River basin from 2001-2018. Spatial variation of station SCI was observed over Euclidean distances and flow-unconnected stream distances, but not flow-connected stream distances. I analyzed SCI as a function of station water quality measurements, landscape metrics, and geophysical covariates using a non-spatial model. The landscape metrics came from EPA's StreamCat dataset and included covariates calculated at the watershed extent such as percentage forest cover, grassland and herbaceous cover, and impervious surface area. The station covariates included physical-chemical measurements, total habitat score, turbidity, and total nitrogen. Increases in habitat score and elevation were associated with increases in SCI whereas increases in impervious surface area was associated with decreases in SCI. Spatial autocorrelation accounted for 20% of the variation in SCI and made for a better performing model than the non-spatial model. This watershed model will be compared to models with landscape metrics at watershed-riparian, catchment, and catchment-riparian extents and configurations. Doing so will provide a test of the hypothesis that landscape metrics from a mix of extents and configurations, along with station covariates and spatial autocovariances, are needed to better predict SCI.

Michael McManus (Primary Presenter/Author), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Center for Environmental Assessment, Cincinnati, Ohio 45268, mcmanus.michael@epa.gov;

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6/06/2024  |   14:00 - 14:15   |  Salon 10

Effects of military river crossings on freshwater ecosystems : a case study within federal U.S. Army training area United States federal military installations occupy approximately 8.8 million acres of national landscape and contain many important environmental habitats. Military activities and training practices can be a direct source of environmental disturbance within natural ecosystems. Frequent events such as maneuvering heavy machinery can lead to pollution, sediment displacement, and erosion; as a result, many inherent, natural processes can be disrupted or threatened. We assessed the impact of vehicular river crossings across three sites at the San Antonio River and five sites at the Nacimiento River within U.S. Army’s Fort Hunter-Liggett in California. Biological assessments were performed to quantify the aquatic systems health in respect to the river crossings using the California State Water Resources Control Board’s Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program (SWAMP) protocol. Surveys were conducted up- and downstream of the crossings to evaluate river crossing impacted versus unaltered environments. Invertebrates were collected as indicator species and were identified down to genus. All environmental and invertebrate data was combined at each site to calculate the representative California Stream Condition Indices (CSCI). Due to the introduced disturbance of river crossings, we compared to see lower CSCI scores downstream of the crossings to assess ecological health. We expect these results will inform further management and use of river crossings by the military to lessen ecological impacts.

Skylar Wolfe (Primary Presenter/Author), California State University, Monterey Bay, skwolfe@csumb.edu;

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6/06/2024  |   14:15 - 14:30   |  Salon 10

Quantifying Human Activity Gradients among Nearshore Great Lakes Ecosystems It is well known in limnology that what happens on the adjacent land has a significant effect on nearshore benthic ecosystems in lakes. I used landscape scale information about human activity, including population, road, and building density, to quantify Human Activity Gradients among Canadian nearshore sites in the Great Lakes. I then classified the sites as Reference or Test and compared this classification to Lake, Ecoregion, and the original designation of sites as Reference or Test. This resulted in a better descriptor of the human environment for both defining the reference condition and evaluating the effects of human activity on ecosystem health.

Robert Bailey (Primary Presenter/Author), Ontario Tech University, Robert.bailey@ontariotechu.ca;

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6/06/2024  |   14:30 - 14:45   |  Salon 10

Effects of sediment sluicing operations on fish and benthic invertebrate communities in the dam reservoirs Many river ecosystems lack sediment due to changes in sediment regime by development for water uses and flood control. Recently, several measures for dam sedimentation control have implemented to provide sediment to the river channel and restore communities in dammed rivers. The sediment sluicing is a sediment control measure that allows sediment from upstream to pass downstream of the dam by keeping the reservoir in a lotic condition during high flow. Sluicing operations were reported to provide sediment and increase taxa richness of macroinvertebrates in river channel below the dam. However, little is known about the effects of sluicing operations on fauna in reservoirs. We investigated the changes in fish and benthic invertebrate communities before and after the first sluicing operation in two reservoirs using 14 years of monitoring data. No significant changes in abundance, richness, composition of fish, and abundance, richness, biomass, composition of benthic invertebrate were found in both reservoirs. Fish abundance declined immediately after each sluicing operation but recovered next year. Invertebrate abundance and richness often increased about 3 months after each operation. Results of this study suggest that benthic invertebrate can recover enough from a disturbance due to sediment sluicing operation in a couple of months and that fish are likely to take refuge in slower flow areas during a sediment sluicing operation. Sediment sluicing operations do not appear to have any serious consequences for the biota in the reservoirs.

Daisuke Nakano (Primary Presenter/Author), Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, d-nakano@criepi.denken.or.jp;

Ryotaro Mori (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Kyushu Electric Power Company, Inc., ryotaro_mori@kyuden.co.jp;

Yuuichi Kitago (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Kyushu Electric Power Company, Inc., Yuuichi_Kitagou@kyuden.co.jp;

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6/06/2024  |   14:45 - 15:00   |  Salon 10

Cuyahoga Valley National Park Headwater Stream Inventory Cuyahoga Valley National Park Headwater Stream Inventory This large-scale project inventoried 125 headwater streams in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in 2022. At each 200-foot stream reach EnviroScience biologists assessed stream habitat, channel geomorphology, visitor use impact, and composition of the biological communities (macroinvertebrates, fish, and amphibians). Macroinvertebrates were collected using a D-frame kick net or by hand following Ohio EPA protocols. Specimens were vouchered and identified to the lowest practical level in the lab. In total, over 12 thousand macroinvertebrate specimens were collected from approximately 250 taxa. EnviroScience biologists collected fish using backpack electrofishing. Salamanders were collected by hand from a 10-meter sub-section of the reach. Fish and salamander species were identified, photo-vouchered, and released. Project-wide, four species of salamanders and twenty-one species of fish were documented. After completing the collections, the biological data was assessed using Ohio EPA Primary Headwater protocols to classify the streams. Perennial cool- and cold-water sites numbered 103 (Class IIIB and Class IIIA). Twenty inventoried streams were found to have either intermittent flow conditions or were marginally warm water perennial PHW systems (Class II); and two sites were determined to be ephemeral channels (Class I) based upon the biological assessment results. No visitor use impacts of any kind were observed at 26 sites. Nine sites were impacted by litter or trash with respect to habitat integrity. Non-litter impacts identified during the inventory were associated with erosion and vegetation damage related to trails and stream access points.

Paul Anderson (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), EnviroScience, Inc., panderson@enviroscienceinc.com;

Yakuta Baghat (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), EnviroScience, Inc., ybhagat@enviroscienceinc.com;

Brad Bartelme (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), EnviroScience, Inc., bbartelme@enviroscienceinc.com;

Nicole Stolic (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), EnviroScience, Inc., nstolic@enviroscienceinc.com;

Melissa Vaccarino (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), EnviroScience, Inc., mvaccarino@enviroscienceinc.com;

Madeline Genco (Primary Presenter/Author,Co-Presenter/Co-Author), EnviroScience, Inc., mgenco@enviroscienceinc.com;

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