Post on 21-Jan-2015
description
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Reporting the first year of results towards a Canada-wide evaluation of freshwater health by 2017
Genomes to/aux Biomes, 2014
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James Snider, Sophie Taddeo, Anna Labetski & Steven Price
May 28, 2014
What is it all adding up to?
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Freshwater Health Assessment (FHA): What is it?
• A set of four key metrics integrated through an expert reviewed analytical framework
• Provide a high level score for freshwater ecosystem health within a watershed context.
• Establish a consistent approach across the country
• Pooling available data to build a basis for evidence-based water policy evaluation and advocacy.
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All major freshwater systems assessed by
by 2017
A major milestone….
Index of Habitat Integrity (IHI)
South African Scoring System (SASS)(Macro-Invertebrate Community Index)
Fish Assemblage Integrity Index (FAII)
Riparian Vegetation Index (RVI)
Geomorphological Index
Water Quality (Chemical) Water Quality (Diatoms)
Concept: Looking to leaders
Complimenting other assessments
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WWF-Canada Freshwater Health Assessment Framework
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Hydrology Metric -- Composite metric comprised of 5 indicators:
1. Trends in median monthly flow, long-term (onset of monitoring – present)
2. Trends in median monthly flow, short-term (last available monitoring – present)
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3. Long-term trends in annual flowsSub-basin score reported as average annual percentage change in MAF, calculated across sites with significant trend, and weighted across sites by long-term MAD.
Hydrology Metric -- Composite metric comprised of 5 indicators:
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Hydrology Metric
Pre- vs. Post-Dam / Historical vs. Recent analysis:
4. Variance in monthly flow
5. Percentage Change in Median Monthly Flow
-- Composite metric comprised of 5 indicators:
13Concentration (mg/L)
Num
ber o
f Obs
erva
tions
Provincial Guideline (e.g. Nitrate = 2.93 mg/L)
75th Percentile 90th Percentile
Water Quality
Indicator: Proportion of water quality measurements that exceed three chosen thresholds: (1) Provincial or Federal water quality guidelines; (2) 90th percentile of historical distribution; and (3) 75th percentile of historical distribution
Various data sources, including Environment Canada’s EnviroDat, and provincial agencies (e.g. Ontario’s Provincial Water Quality Monitoring Network)
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Example Results of Water Quality Metric:
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Water quality results are available by parameter, and data source
HBI = Σ(xi*ti)/(n), where
xi = number of individuals within a familyti = tolerance value of a familyn = total number of organisms in the sample
Dragonfly Nymph CaddisflySnailsSideswimmer
Hilsenhoff Biotic Index
A measure of benthic invertebrate community composition, based on relative sensitivity of taxa (i.e. species, genus or family) to disturbance (e.g. Organic pollutants).
Year
Med
ian
Num
ber o
f Nati
ve F
ish
Spec
ies
Linear Regression*
* All statistics used in FHA are non-parametric. We use the analogous non-parametric test
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1995 2000 2005 2010
Fish MetricIndicator: Presence/Absence of a decline in native fish species richness over time (i.e. Loss of native fish diversity)
Data Sources: Provincial databases, including BC Historical Fish Observances, Alberta’s Fish & Wildlife Information System, Ontario’s Flowing Waters Information System
Analysis of both median and total annual fish species richness
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Very Good
Good
Very Good
Very Good
Your water body is: GOOD
Very poor
Poor
Fair
Good
Very good
WWF Framework: Metrics to Scores
Health of your water body overall is:
GOOD Very Poor
Poor
Fair
Good
Very Good
WWF Framework: Metrics to Scores
Hydrology
Fish
Invertebrates
Water Quality
Very Poor
Poor
Fair
Good
Very Good
=
=
=
=
=
Data sufficiency
Very Poor
Poor
Fair
Good
Very Good
Very Poor
Poor
Fair
Good
Very Good
Very Poor
Poor
Fair
Good
Very Good
Understanding scale
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Spatial criteria for data sufficiency are determined based on Water Survey of Canada framework:
For basins, criteria are related to ‘sub-drainage areas“
For sub-basins, criteria are related to “sub-sub-drainage areas”
Upcoming results:June, 2014 – Five rivers
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• Ottawa
• North Saskatchewan
• Mackenzie
• Rivers of the Great Slave
• Saint-Maurice
Overall Scores, sub-basin scale
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7
3
0
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0
8
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Very Good Good Fair Poor Very Poor DataDeficient
Hydrology Scores, Sub-basin scale
382 short-term monitoring sites86 long-term monitoring sites
Number of sub-basins in each scoring category:
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20 0
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Very Good Good Fair Poor Very Poor DataDeficient
Water Quality Scores, Sub-basin scale
985 Water Quality Sites
Number of sub-basins in each scoring category:
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Very Good Good Fair Poor Very Poor DataDeficient
Benthic Scores, Sub-basin scale
Number of sub-basins in each scoring category:
809 Benthic Sites
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0 0
21
Good Fair Poor Data Deficient
Fish Scores, Sub-basin scale
Number of sub-basins in each scoring category:
5,382 Fish Sites
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Working to improve the fish metric
1. Apply abundance-based regional Indices of Biological Integrity, where data and models of expected distribution and abundance exists.
2. Where long-term abundance data is available (but not a regional IBI model), apply WWF’s Living Planet Index approach.
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Fish Metric Improvements (cont.)
4. Integrate a measure of sampling effort into analysis, either via species rarefaction models, or catch-per-unit-effort approaches.
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Conclusions to Date
• Severe data limitations are apparent in many parts of the country.
• Lack of standardized approach for reporting, especially water quality – including state and units of parameters.
• Challenge accessing data outside of government.
• Huge potential in monitoring from industry (EIA), utilities (e.g. BC Hydro and Hydro Quebec).
• Improvements are needed in fish metric to gain better discriminatory power.
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Next steps
• Freshwater Health Assessment for Great Lakes - St. Lawrence River Watershed – to be completed by June 2015
• Threats Assessment – cumulative effects approach to provide additional insight on causality & enhance policy & planning leverage
• Hiring: Two, 1-year contract positions, starting Summer and Fall 2014.