Monday, June 5, 2017
11:00 - 12:30

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11:00 - 11:15: / 302C ECOSYSTEM METABOLISM IN TWO NORTHERN ARKANSAS FLOW REGIMES: EXPLORING FLOW-ECOLOGY RELATIONSHIPS IN THE OZARKS

6/05/2017  |   11:00 - 11:15   |  302C

ECOSYSTEM METABOLISM IN TWO NORTHERN ARKANSAS FLOW REGIMES: EXPLORING FLOW-ECOLOGY RELATIONSHIPS IN THE OZARKS The natural flow regime controls stream ecosystem processes and functions, but few efforts have examined stream metabolism explicitly within the context of flow regime. Recently, natural flow regimes have been classified within the Ozarks that can be used to establish flow-ecology relationships. We present results from a year-long metabolism study in six forested streams within the two dominant flow regimes in northern Arkansas. We used the single-station method to estimate annual gross primary production (GPP), ecosystem respiration (ER), and net ecosystem metabolism (NEM) in three streams dominated by runoff and groundwater inputs, respectively. We applied groundwater corrections where applicable. Stream types also differed in dominant substrate, number of no flow days, and number of flood events. GPP and ER tended to be greater in groundwater systems (p=0.06, p= 0.08). Net metabolism tended to be more heterotrophic in groundwater streams (p=0.20). Groundwater site metabolism ranged from -687 to 57 (+/- 218) g C m-2 y-1, while runoff sites ranged from -84 to -30 (+/- 16) g C m-2 y-1. Our work reveals potential flow class-specific variation in function within a biome.

Allyn Dodd (Primary Presenter/Author), Lyon College, allyn.dodd@lyon.edu;


Doug Leasure ( Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Georgia, doug.leasure@gmail.com;


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


Michelle Evans-White ( Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Arkansas, mevanswh@uark.edu;


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11:15 - 11:30: / 302C ASSESSING ENVIRONMENTAL FLOWS IN DATA-POOR RIVERS: AN EXAMPLE OF THE WAMI RIVER ESTUARY, SADAANI NATIONAL PARK, TANZANIA.

6/05/2017  |   11:15 - 11:30   |  302C

Assessing Environmental Flows In Data-Poor Rivers: An Example Of The Wami River Estuary, Sadaani National Park, Tanzania. In much of the world, there is little information on hydrological linkages with ecosystem structure/function. While studies to characterize flow requirements of individual species and communities are important, the urgency posed by ever-increasing water demands calls for environmental flow guidelines to avoid irreversible ecosystem degradation. We describe an approach to obtain an initial set of flow recommendations for the Wami River in Sadaani National Park, Tanzania, based on the assumption that, if a river has a diverse ecosystem, the flows over the past 30-40 years have maintained the ecosystem. Hence, flow data over this period can give an initial idea of the natural flow regime occurring in the river that have shaped the ecosystem. Rapid ecohydrological field assessments and local resident interviews provide a broad understanding of the distribution of riparian, floodplain and aquatic communities in conjunction with seasonal water level. Hydrological modeling then indicates the extent of flooding with a given water level. All this information is then combined to create environmental flow guidelines on a monthly scale, for years with normal rainfall and years with below-normal rainfall. An initial set of flow recommendations can serve until further studies.

Amartya Saha (Primary Presenter/Author), Archbold Biological Station, riparianbuffer@gmail.com;


Mercy Asha Mohamed ( Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Florida International University, ashamsoka@gmail.com;


Maria Donoso ( Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Florida International University, mcdonoso@fiu.edu;


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11:30 - 11:45: / 302C QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH SUPPORTING A FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING ECOLOGICAL FLOWS FOR NORTH CAROLINA

6/05/2017  |   11:30 - 11:45   |  302C

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH SUPPORTING A FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING ECOLOGICAL FLOWS FOR NORTH CAROLINA NC DEQ appointed a Science Advisory Board (SAB) to “assist with characterizing the natural ecology and identifying the flow requirements” required by NC Session Law 2010-143. A small, ad hoc advisory science team formed to support the SAB collected biological data and modeled hydrology to characterize the degree of alteration in streamflows at the stream segment level statewide. The team explored strategies for: (1) classifying streams both by flow characteristics and by physiological and ecological regions; (2) characterizing the biota of streams and relative sensitivity to flow alterations; and (3) quantifying biological responses to flow alterations. Twelve significant and negative, linear flow – biology relationships were developed. Findings show the response of fish species to reductions in streamflow may be greatly underestimated if flow – biology relationships are not established separately by fish guild. Because the final statewide relationships were linear, thresholds for ecological flows could not be easily established. Given the lack of thresholds typical to water regulations, a method of setting ecological flows based on the magnitude of change in biological condition that is acceptable to society is demonstrated.

Michele Eddy (Primary Presenter/Author), RTI International, mceddy@rti.org;


Jennifer Phelan ( Co-Presenter/Co-Author), RTI International, jenphelan@rti.org;


Sam Pearsall ( Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Environmental Defense Fund (retired), samlindapearsall@gmail.com;


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11:45 - 12:00: / 302C A DATABASE FOR FOR EVALUATING E-FLOW HYPOTHESES AT REGIONAL AND NATIONAL SCALES: LIMITATIONS AND POSSIBILITIES

6/05/2017  |   11:45 - 12:00   |  302C

A DATABASE FOR FOR EVALUATING E-FLOW HYPOTHESES AT REGIONAL AND NATIONAL SCALES: LIMITATIONS AND POSSIBILITIES Ideally, e-flow hypotheses are tested using concurrently collected ecological and hydrological data. However, because streamflow monitoring networks are sparse and rarely targeted for ecological assessments, there is a need for a database that contains uniformly collected ecological data at locations with active streamflow gages. We describe a nascent effort to assemble such a database using ecological assessment data collected by two national programs: the National River and Streams Assessment (USEPA) and the National Water-Quality Program (USGS). We assembled invertebrate and fish community data collected by these two federal programs from 1993-2009, and manually matched sampling locations to active USGS stream gages. A total of 728 stream gaging stations were matched to biological community samples. The matched sites represent a broad size range (area 1-1,020,806 km2) of streams and rivers across the contiguous US. We provide summaries of the streamflow records and environmental settings of these sites, evaluate potential issues with taxonomic consistency, and demonstrate two applications of the database. Finally, we discuss the potential for expanding the database by including biological and hydrological data collected by other federal and non-federal sources.

Daren Carlisle (Primary Presenter/Author), U.S. Geological Survey, dcarlisle@usgs.gov;


Ted Grantham ( Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of California, Berkeley, tgrantham@berkeley.edu;


Ken Eng ( Co-Presenter/Co-Author), U.S. Geological Survey, keng@usgs.gov;


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12:00 - 12:15: / 302C AUSTRALIA’S LONG-TERM INTERVENTION MONITORING PROJECT – A MAJOR DATA RESOURCE FOR TESTING FLOW-ECOLOGY HYPOTHESES

6/05/2017  |   12:00 - 12:15   |  302C

AUSTRALIA’S LONG-TERM INTERVENTION MONITORING PROJECT – A MAJOR DATA RESOURCE FOR TESTING FLOW-ECOLOGY HYPOTHESES The development of generalizable flow-ecology relationships has been held back by the inconsistency of data sets over large spatial scales. As part of the Australian Government’s Murray Darling Basin Plan, the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office has funded a five year program – the Long-Term Intervention Monitoring Project - to collect data on ecological responses to environmental flows across the Murray Darling Basin. Data collection is being undertaken in seven ‘selected areas’, with data also being analysed across areas in large-scale analyses. The focus of monitoring on the ‘intervention’ of environmental flow events yields dividends for flow-ecology science and management. For example, combining field data on spawning of golden perch (Macquaria ambigua), with the outputs of 2-dimensional hydraulic models, we now have a strong understanding of the conditions needed to induce spawning in this iconic fish species. Results are being used to inform water delivery decisions via adaptive management, helping managers to extract maximal value from the limited environmental water available. Longer-term, the project is providing a wealth of targeted empirical data to help us better understand ecological responses to flow restoration in Australia’s most flow-impacted river system.

Angus Webb (Primary Presenter/Author), The University of Melbourne, angus.webb@unimelb.edu.au;
Dr Angus Webb is a Senior Lecturer in Environmental Hydrology and Water Resources at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He originally trained as a marine ecologist before moving into the study and restoration of large-scale environmental problems in freshwater systems. Much of his research centers on improving the use of the existing knowledge and data for such problems. To this end he has developed innovative approaches to synthesizing information from the literature, eliciting knowledge from experts, and analyzing large-scale data sets. He is heavily involved in the monitoring and evaluation of ecological outcomes from the Murray-Darling Basin Plan environmental watering, leading the program for the Goulburn River, Victoria, and advising on data analysis at the basin scale. Angus is currently a co-editing a major new text book on environmental flows science and management. He was awarded the 2013 prize for Building Knowledge in Waterway Management by the River Basin Management Society, and the 2012 Australian Society for Limnology Early Career Achievement Award.

Wayne Koster ( Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, wayne.koster@delwp.vic.gov.au;


Geoff Vietz ( Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Streamology/University of Melbourne, geoff@streamology.com.au;


Andrew Lowes ( Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Commonwealth Environmental Water Office, andrew.lowes@environment.gov.au;


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12:15 - 12:30: / 302C USE OF ALTERNATIVE INVERTEBRATE SAMPLING TECHNIQUES CAN MOVE THE SCIENCE OF FLOW ECOLOGY FORWARD: CASE STUDIES FROM THE COLORADO RIVER

6/05/2017  |   12:15 - 12:30   |  302C

USE OF ALTERNATIVE INVERTEBRATE SAMPLING TECHNIQUES CAN MOVE THE SCIENCE OF FLOW ECOLOGY FORWARD: CASE STUDIES FROM THE COLORADO RIVER Traditional benthic invertebrate sampling and associated metrics (species richness, biotic indices) are widely used to describe ecosystem response to hydrologic alteration, yet benthic sampling is exceedingly challenging in large rivers that are the most extensively altered. Here, I demonstrate the potential of alternative sampling techniques to discern invertebrate response to hydrologic alteration in using datasets of drift (monthly sampling for ten years) and citizen science light trap sampling of emergent insects (a thousand samples per year for five years). Drift sampling in the Colorado River demonstrates that the seasonal timing of controlled floods released from Glen Canyon Dam determines invertebrate population response, with spring-timed floods increasing population abundance of the two insect taxa present (midges and blackflies) and fall-timed floods increasing population abundance of New Zealand mudsnails. Similarly, synoptic citizen science emergence sampling reveals spatial periodicity in abundance of adult midges along the 400 kilometer-long Grand Canyon segment owing to the downstream propagation of hydropeaking waves and differential survival of midge eggs. These examples demonstrate the incredible potential of alternative sampling techniques to generate the large and robust datasets needed to push the science of flow ecology forward.

Ted Kennedy (POC,Primary Presenter), USGS Southwest Biological Science Center, Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center, tkennedy@usgs.gov;


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