by james c. petersen, billy justus, and bradley j. meredith u.s. geological survey arkansas water...

Effects of Land Use and Associated Factors On Biological Communities of Small Streams

in the Illinois River Basin of Arkansas

by James C. Petersen, Billy Justus, and Bradley J. Meredith U.S. Geological Survey Arkansas Water Science Center

This is information is preliminary and is subject to revision. It is being provided to meet the need for timely best science. The information is provided on the condition that neither the U.S. Geological Survey nor the U.S. Government may be held liable for any damages resulting from the authorized or unauthorized use of the information.

Preliminary Information—Subject to Revision. Not for Citation or Distribution

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Funding--Illinois River Watershed Partnership (319 grant)

Landowners--access


Study conducted in response to the watershed management plan


From IRWP

SiteWWTP

Complex land use effects Multiple stressors


OBJECTIVEDescribe relations between biological communities and environmental factors (land use, nutrients, and habitat)


SAMPLING APPROACH

Select 18 sites—land use, basin size, WWTP

Baseflow water-quality sample (nutrients only, July-August of 2011, May-June 2012)

Concurrently sample biological communities Concurrently measure habitat factors


DATA ANALYSIS APPROACHDivide sites into categories:• Agriculture gradient• Urban gradient• Forest—both gradients• Wastewater-treatment plant (WWTP)

Calculate biological metrics/indices

Calculate environmental factor values


DATA ANALYSIS APPROACH

Evaluate relations between biology and environmental factors• Spearman correlation• Scatter plots of biological metrics vs environmental factors


ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS IN PLOTSLand use

Percent forestTotal road density

NutrientsTotal phosphorusNitrate

SedimentEmbeddedness

ShadingCanopy angle

Stream geometryBank height

Environmental factor

Bio

logi

cal m

etric


ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS IN PLOTSLand use

Percent forestTotal road density

NutrientsTotal phosphorusNitrate

SedimentEmbeddedness

ShadingCanopy angle

Stream geometryBank height


Percent forest in basin

0 20 40 60 80 100

Macroalgae cover, in percent

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Forest siteAgriculture siteUrban siteAgriculture site with wastewater-treatment plantUrban site with wastewater-treatment plant

Rho=-0.05



0 20 40 60 80 100


0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35


Wastewater-treatment plant sites


Open canopy angle, in degrees

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140


0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35


Rho=0.49



0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140


0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35




0 20 40 60 80 100

Total biovolume, in cubic centim

eters per square meter

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70


Rho=-0.19



0 20 40 60 80 100



0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70




0 20 40 60 80 100



0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70


July-August 2011

May-June 2012



0 20 40 60 80 100

Diatom

biovolume, in cubic centim


0

2

4

6

8

10

12


Rho=-0.27



0 20 40 60 80 100

Nitzschia am

phibia biovolum

e, in cubic centimeters per square m

eter

0

1

2

3


Rho=-0.16


Total phosphorus, in milligrams per liter as phosphorus

0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6



0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70


Rho=0.07



0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140



0

5

10

15

20


Rho=0.45



0 20 40 60 80 100

Invertebrate index

0

20

40

60

80

100

Forest siteAgriculture siteUrban siteAgriculture site with wastewater-treatment plant

Urban site with wastewater-treatment plant

Rho=0.86



0 20 40 60 80 100Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera richness

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35



Rho=0.72



0 20 40 60 80 100Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera richness

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35




Road density

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

Invertebrate index

0

20

40

60

80

100



Rho=-0.77



0 20 40 60 80 100

Ozark H

ighlands fish index of biotic integrity

0

20

40

60

80

100


Dauwalter et al., 2003

Rho=0.63

Least disturbed

Fair

Good

Poor



0 20 40 60 80 100Smallm

outh bass relative abundance, in percent

0

2

4

6

8

10


Rho=0.85



0 20 40 60 80 100

Num

ber of lithophilic spawning species

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16


Rho=0.85


Embeddedness, in percent

0 20 40 60 80 100

Ozark H


30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100


Rho=-0.60


Embeddedness, in percent

0 20 40 60 80 100

Ozark H


30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100



Bank height, in feet above streambed at thalweg

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Ozark H


30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100


Rho=0.19


Bank height, in feet above streambed at thalweg

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Ozark H


30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100


Rho=-0.52


Total road density, in miles per square mile

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

Ozark H


30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100


Rho=-0.75


SummarySampled 18 sites on small streamsGradient of agriculture and urban land use

—also WWTP sitesEffects on all trophic levelsEffects from all classes of environmental factors

Land useNutrientsSedimentShadingChannel geometry

Effects from WWTP’s


Questions?

by james c. petersen, billy justus, and bradley j. meredith u.s. geological survey arkansas water...

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