ET-3 (2/7/05 version) Integrating Chemical and Stream Integrity to
Achieve Environmental Results
Rankin, Edward T. and Brian J. Armitage. 2005. Trends in Biological
Integrity, Biodiversity and Aquatic Habitat in the Eastern Corn Belt Plains
Ecoregion: Implications for the Protection and Restoration of Streams in the
St. Josephs River Watershed. Ohio Biological Survey Applied Publication Series
Number 1.
This study was conducted with support by The Nature Conservancy to
examine stressor indicators and exposure indicators that are limiting to biological integrity in
streams in the Eastern Corn Belt Plains (ECBP) and Huron Erie Lake Plain
(HELP) ecoregions.
Conclusions were:
- that stream habitat was the major controlling factor in streams of the ECBP
and HELP ecoregions;
- that conservation tillage could have a substantial
influence on biological conditions in watersheds;
- but that biological
communities were not likely to improve across major narrative categories (e.g.
fair to excellent) without some consideration of habitat (stream integrity)
limitations.
Trends in Biological Integrity Slide Show: PDF format (5171kb) or zipped PowerPoint format (6396 kb).
Auglaize River, Connections between
Land Management and Biological Conditions.
Association Between Nutrients, Habitat, and the Aquatic Biota in Ohio
Rivers and Streams
Nutrient chemistry, biological community performance, and habitat data from
least impacted regional reference sites and a broader data set, including
sites impacted by various stressors, were analyzed to determine localized
low-flow effects of nutrients and sediment on the aquatic assemblages of Ohio
streams and rivers. Data were segregated by ecoregion and further stratified
by four ranges of stream and river size.
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