Title:
Linkages between simple sediment metrics and aquatic communities in streams of the Piedmond Ecoregion of Georgia
Linkages between simple sediment metrics and aquatic communities in streams of the Piedmond Ecoregion of Georgia
Author(s)
Carroll, G. Denise
Jackson, C. Rhett
Jackson, C. Rhett
Advisor(s)
Editor(s)
Carroll, G. Denise
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Abstract
According to United States
Environmental Protection Division and Department of
Agriculture, sediment is the number one cause of water
quality impairment. Sixteen percent of streams in
Georgia are listed for sediment or biota problems, and
sediment is typically the assumed cause of biotic
impairment. Because sediment loads and stream mobility
are expensive and difficult to measure, this study
examines the feasibility of using easily measured metrics
(e.g., turbidity and percent fine sediment) to explain
variability in biotic index scores along a landuse gradient.
We measured aquatic assemblage metrics (fish and
macroinvertebrates), baseflow sediment concentrations,
turbidities, percent fines in the stream bed, local channel
slope, and baseflow velocity in 42 streams having a wide
range of local conditions and watershed characteristics.
Preliminary results indicate that turbidity and suspended
sediment concentrations (SSC) were related to forested
landuse within a 25-ft stream buffer, but were not
explained by overall watershed landuse conditions.
Turbidity and SSC were highly correlated when
stormflow and baseflow samples were analyzed together,
however, baseflow turbidity samples were all less than 30
NTU’s, lacking sufficient variability to replace SSC
sampling. Independently, both parameters were weakly
related to biotic factors, but explained a high amount of
variability when coupled with percent urbanization or
impervious surface.
Sponsor
Sponsored by:
Georgia Environmental Protection Division
U.S. Geological Survey, Georgia Water Science Center
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service
Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Water Resources Institute
The University of Georgia, Water Resources Faculty
Date Issued
2009-04
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Resource Type
Text
Resource Subtype
Proceedings