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Headwater streams have some of the best quality water in the country (Dissmeyer 2000). Because headwaters eventually flow into other downstream water bodies like rivers and lakes, they are important places to focus research and conservation efforts. All streams in this study had good water quality based on several assessments of macroinvertebrate communities. 1. Judging from metrics of abundance, richness, EPT, and HBI, all study streams had very good water quality. Thirty-nine total families were observed among the three streams. Whittier Stream was the least healthy of the three, most likely as a result of human disturbances such as a road crossing, fishpond, and mill remnants. It is probable these habitat alterations are having an effect on downstream benthic communities. 2. The riparian zone of each stream was forested and stable, but there were some eroding banks at some points along the study reaches. The abundance of sensitive macroinvertebrates (measured using representative Orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera) increased with increasing percent canopy cover and decreased with high percentages of sand characterizing the streambed. 3. Macroinvertebrates can be categorized into functional feeding groups based on feeding behavior. Shredders should hypothetically be in high abundance in headwater streams due to high riparian organic matter inputs. However, observed shredders were limited. This may be due to seasonal changes in functional feeding group ratios. In addition, all study streams had a predator/prey ratio that was higher than the ratio expected for a typical stream, which suggests that there might be an abundance of prey biomass in the study stream headwaters. 4. Based on results from stable isotope analysis of carbon and nitrogen, most macroinvertebrates within the study streams seem to be omnivorous. The most complex food web was observed at Stony Brook. Food webs of Beaver Brook and Stony Brook showed similar trophic clustering, a pattern that might be indicative of streams with excellent water quality.
Tropical Stream Ecology describes the main features of tropical streams and their ecology. It covers the major physico-chemical features, important processes such as primary production and organic-matter transformation, as well as the main groups of consumers: invertebrates, fishes and other vertebrates. Information on concepts and paradigms developed in north-temperate latitudes and how they do not match the reality of ecosystems further south is expertly addressed. The pressing matter of conservation of tropical streams and their biodiversity is included in almost every chapter, with a final chapter providing a synthesis on conservation issues. For the first time, Tropical Stream Ecology places an important emphasis on viewing research carried out in contributions from international literature. First synthetic account of the ecology of all types of tropical streams Covers all of the major tropical regions Detailed consideration of possible fundamental differences between tropical and temperate stream ecosystems Threats faced by tropical stream ecosystems and possible conservation actions Descriptions and synstheses life-histories and breeding patterns of major aquatic consumers (fishes, invertebrates)
Abstract: In-stream habitat structure and water chemistry have significant influence on the structure and composition of stream macroinvertebrate assemblages. Habitat at this local scale can be significantly affected by the geomorphology of a stream or region. Both in-stream habitat and geomorphology are, in turn, influenced by other factors operating at the landscape scale (e.g., land use, connectivity of habitat patches, etc.). It is unclear which of these three scales of habitat has the greatest influence over lotic assemblage structure. Anthropogenic disturbance to a stream ecosystem can occur at all three scales of habitat, and is particularly common in predominantly agricultural systems. The Sugar Creek watershed in northeastern Ohio represents several different types of anthropogenic disturbance, including dairy farming, crop production, urbanization, and industrialization. The South and Middle Forks of the Sugar Creek watershed, dominated by agriculture and a mix of agriculture and industry, respectively, were sampled in early summer 2005 for habitat and macroinvertebrates. Richness, evenness, diversity, familylevel biotic index, percent Diptera Chironomidae, and the number of macroinvertebrates were all similar across the drainages. The percent Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera was significantly larger in the Middle Fork than in the South Fork. There were no significant differences in habitat or macroinvertebrate assemblages between the two drainages overall. In-stream habitat structure and water chemistry explained 58.8% of the variation between sites among macroinvertebrate taxa. Geomorphology explained 10.4% and land use 9.4% of the variation. Shared variances between different scales of habitat did not explain substantial amounts of variation among macroinvertebrate taxa. These results have, however, identified several sites in the South Fork with good potential for Best Management Practice implementation and several sites in the Middle Fork for preservation.