Middle Eel River Initiative: A collaborative approach for ecological studies

48
Middle Eel River Initiative: A collaborative approach for ecological studies

description

Middle Eel River Initiative: A collaborative approach for ecological studies. www.usda.gov/stream_restoration/chap1.html. Stream Habitats. Indiana Watersheds. 41 Watersheds 36,000 stream miles 8 digit HUCs Eel River HUC 05120104. 814 mi 2. Stream Monitoring. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Transcript of Middle Eel River Initiative: A collaborative approach for ecological studies

Page 1: Middle Eel River Initiative:   A collaborative approach for ecological studies

Middle Eel River Initiative: A collaborative approach for

ecological studies

Page 2: Middle Eel River Initiative:   A collaborative approach for ecological studies

Stream Habitats

www.usda.gov/stream_restoration/chap1.html

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• 41 Watersheds• 36,000 stream

miles• 8 digit HUCs• Eel River HUC

05120104

Indiana Watersheds

Page 4: Middle Eel River Initiative:   A collaborative approach for ecological studies

814 mi2

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Stream Monitoring• Water chemistry or Stream habitat?• Stream biology?• Where and when?• How clean is clean?

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Connecting critical upland processes with aquatic ecosystems.

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Approximate locationof Virgin Old-GrowthForest in 1620, 1850,and 1920

Meyer, 1995

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Cuyahoga river, 1969

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3,000-6,000 square miles

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Ecological Impacts: Streams

• Chemical• Physical• Biological• Temporal• Spatial

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Can changes be detected?

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Middle Eel River Monitoring• Three gage sites • Six Tributaries

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Water Sample Collection• Grab Samples • Time integrated• 15 minute data collection

– Water temperature – Stream discharge

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Parameters

• Water Chemistry– Total Suspended Sediment– Total Phosphorus– Nitrate

• Biological– QHEI– IBI– Mussel survey– E. coli

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4/22

/201

0

5/2/

2010

5/12

/201

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/201

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6/1/

2010

6/11

/201

0

6/21

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7/1/

2010

7/11

/201

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7/21

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7/31

/201

00

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100TSS discharge m3/sec

TSS

(mg/

L)

Dis

char

ge (

m3/

sec)

Upstream rain event

Upstream Gage 2010

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Blocher Site

5/27 6/4 6/12 6/20 6/28 7/6 7/14 7/22 7/300.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

Stage Height (ft) Total Phosphorus (mg/L)Summer 2009

Sta

ge H

eigh

t (ft)

Tota

l Pho

spho

rus

(mg/

L)

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Mexico Site

5/27 6/6 6/16 6/26 7/6 7/16 7/260.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

Stage Height (feet) Total Phosphorus (mg/L)Summer 2009

Sta

ge H

eigh

t (ft)

Tota

l Pho

spho

rus

(mg/

L)

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Blocher's Farms

Near Pawpaw Creek

Mexico, IN

Silver Creek

Beargrass Creek

Squirrel Creek

Pawpaw Creek

Flowers Creek

Weesau Creek

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

0102030405060708090100

IBI QHEI

IBI S

core

QHEI

Sco

re

IBI Good QHEI Good

Fish and Habitat

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Dam Research

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Indiana• 1,100 dams and most in poor

condition• 70 % privately owned

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North Manchester dam• Approximately 3 feet of water

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Mean IBI Scores above NM dam

0-0.5 0.5-1 1.0-1.5

1.5-2.0

2.0-2.5

Dam303234363840424446

35

41

40

41

44

Distance upstream from dam, km

IBI S

core

Exceptional (50-60)Very Good (49-42)Good (41-34)Fair (33-27)Poor (26-17)Very Poor (<17)

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Mean QHEI Scores above NM dam

0-0.5 0.5-1.0 1.0-1.5 1.5-2.0 2.0-2.550

55

60

65

70

75

55.5 57

67.5

70.5 71

Distance upstream from dam, km

QH

EI S

core

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Liberty Mills Site

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Liberty Mills

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Indiana’s aquatic “dust bowl”

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Suspended Sediment

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Smallmouth bass Monitoring• SMB nests• Year Class

Strength• Growth

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Eel River median discharge and SMB nest frequency at North

Manchester

2006 2007 2008 2011 2012

0

5

10

15

20

25

Discharge (m3/sec)Number of Nests

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SMB nests and TSS

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 20120

2

4

6

8

10

12

0

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SMB nestsYear

Mean TSS mg/LMay-June SMB nests

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SMB Spine

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Wet Fanny Awards

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Nate’s FishBruce’s Fish

Ryan’s Fish

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My Fish!

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21-Apr 1-May 11-May 21-May 31-May 10-Jun 20-Jun 30-Jun 10-Jul0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Cumulative Precipitation May and June 2007-2011

20072008200920102011

Month

Cum

ulat

ive

Prec

ipita

tion,

inch

es

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0123456

0 8 16 32 63 125 250 500Clay Concentration, mg/L

Gro

up B

iom

ass,

mg

4-d exposure7-d exposure

Figure 2. Mean and standard error of group biomass for smallmouth bass (11mm TL) after 4 d and 7 d exposure to bentonite clay suspensions.

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Smallmouth Bass Compared to mean Total Suspended Solids in May and

June

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Blocher Site

5/27 6/4 6/12 6/20 6/28 7/6 7/14 7/22 7/300.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

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3.0

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0

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200

300

400

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600

700

800

Stage Height (ft) TSS (mg/L)Summer 2009

Sta

ge H

eigh

t (ft)

TSS

(mg/

L)

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Mexico Site

5/27 6/4 6/12 6/20 6/28 7/6 7/14 7/22 7/300.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

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100

150

200

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300

Stage Height (ft) TSS (mg/L)Summer 2009

Sta

ge H

eigh

t (ft)

TSS

(mg/

L)

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Stream Sediment

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Eel River Discharge at North Manchester

5/1 5/5 5/9 5/13

5/17

5/21

5/25

5/29 6/2 6/6 6/1

06/1

46/1

86/2

26/2

66/3

00

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

4,500

2006200720082011

Date

Disc

harg

e (ft

³/s)

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Mean (SE) for upstream gage and NM

2007 2008 2009 2010 20110

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

TSS, mg/L

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Number of SMB Nests Compared to Discharge at North Manchester

2006 2007 2008 2011

0

5

10

15

20

25

Discharge (m3/sec)Number of Nests

Discharge (red) and SMB fre-quency (blue)

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2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 20120

20406080

100120140

0

5

10

15

20

25

median Q m3/secTSS mg/L mean

year

TSS, mg/L Discharge, m3/sec

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Eel River TSS vs discharge

0 5 10 15 20 250

20

40

60

80

100

120

140f(x) = 5.57992570251916 x + 13.0950737849669R² = 0.856656565599417

Median Discharge m3/sec

Mean TSS, mg/L

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0 30 60 90 12015Miles

C

Cre k

r

h eek

r Cr

a

St

Ah

Warsaw

Wabash

Peru

Mexico

Grissom AFB

Winona Lake

North Manchester

Bourbon

Lagro

Rochester

Pierceton

Mentone

Akron

La Fontaine

North Webster

Etna Green

Claypool

Denver

Silver Lake

Macy

Roann

Leesburg

Sidney

0 3 6 9 121.5Miles

µ

LegendTowns

Major Roads

Impaired Streams

Tributaries

Eel River

Middle Eel River Watershed

Eel River Watershed

Counties