Abiotic Control of Stream Biota: Physical, Chemical, Hydrological and Spatial Factors

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Abiotic Control of Stream BiotaPhysical,
Chemical, Hydrological and Spatial Factors
Kevin Kane
Animal Ecology 518, Stream Ecology Dr. Clay Pierce
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Topics of Discussion

• Describe physical, chemical, hydrological and
  spatial factors that influence the stream
  environment.
• Illustrate these factors using the Wheeling Creek
  watershed project in West Virginia.
• Illustrate the interdependence of these factors
  using GIS as a tool for rivers and watersheds in
  Iowa.

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Wheeling CreekBackground Information

• Wheeling Creek is a tributary of the Ohio River
  and drains a portion of northern West Virginia
  and the southwestern area of Pennsylvania.
• Total drainage basin area is approximately 30,000
  mi2, and consists of forested, agricultural,
  urban, and industrial landcover.
• Wheeling Creek is typical of the upper Ohio River
  tributary streams.

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Wheeling Creek Location Map
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Watershed Site Map
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Streams, Sites, and Sampling Locations in the
Watershed
Sites A-F
Wheeling Creek Watershed
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Topographic Map Sites A-F
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Site F High Altitude Photo
Lower Wheeling Creek Site F 2.6 km upstream of
the Ohio River at Tunnel Green area, Wheeling, WV.
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Site F Topographic Map
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Site F Low Altitude Aerial Photo
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Site F Stream Level View
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Site of Wheeling Creek Wall in 1890
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Site of Wheeling Creek Wall in 1996
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Physical Hydrological Factors

• Stream Order
• Current / Discharge
• Substrate
• Temperature
• Human Factors

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Stream Order

• Stream order is a measure of the relative size of
  streams.
• Stream sizes range from the smallest,
  first-order, to the largest, the twelfth-order
  (the Amazon River).
• Over 80 of the total length of Earth's rivers
  and streams are headwater streams (first- and
  second-order).

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Stream Order

• Streams gradually increase their widthand depth
  as theygo from 1st orderto nth order.
• Water discharge also increases asorder
  increases.

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Topography and Stream Order
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Comparison of 3rd and 4th Order Stream Watersheds
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Comparison of 3rd and 5th Order Stream Watersheds
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1st Order Stream
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2nd Order Stream
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3rd Order Stream
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4th Order Stream
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5th Order Stream
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6th Order Stream
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Hydrology and Stream Order
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Current / Discharge

• Water velocity and associated forces are huge
  factors affecting organisms of running waters
• food delivery
• every day physical forces
• in-stream ecological distributions
• behavioral adaptations

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Current / Discharge

• Effects of flow on aquatic organisms
• Flow environments
• channel
• nearbed
• pools
• Boundary layers
• friction between moving fluid and a stationary
  surface
• organisms attaching to surfaces

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Hydrology and Body Shape
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Substrate

• Bottom, sides, and projecting into streams
• Mineral Substrate
• Current and parent material
• geology
• soils
• Organic Substrates
• minute organic fragments
• fallen trees
• rooted plants
• other animals

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Limestone Bed
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Substrate
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Substrate and Biology
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Temperature

• Natural Influences
• climatic zone
• altitude
• air temp
• season
• streamside vegetation
• water depth
• flow rate
• snow melt
• groundwater mixing

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Temperature

• Human Activity (Thermal Pollution)
• coolant discharge
• storm water (roofs, pavement)
• removal of streamside vegetation
• lancover changes
• agricultural practices
• construction
• recreation
• erosion (suspended solids)

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Temperature / ChemicalInteraction

• Chemical processes involved in
• metabolism
• growth
• reproduction
• behavior
• Sensitivity (thermal stress and shock) of
  organisms to
• toxic wastes
• parasites
• diseases
• Dissolved Oxygen
• Warmer temps decrease the ability of water to
  hold oxygen molecules

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Temperature
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Temperature and Biology
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Human Factors

• Landcover / Landuse Change
• Sewage
• Pollution

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Human Factors
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Landcover vs.Diversity
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Sewage
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Pollution
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Weather and Biology
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Physical Data
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Chemical Factors
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Water Chemistry

• Many factors influence the composition of river
  water
• There is much spatial variation of stream water
  chemistry
• The ultimate source of all the constituents of
  stream water originate from dissolution of the
  earths rocks

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Water Chemistry
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Chemical Factors

• pH
• Alkalinity
• Conductivity
• Hardness
• Dissolved Gasses (oxygen, carbon dioxide, and
  nitrogen)

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Chemical Settling
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pH

• The concentration of hydrogen ions in the
  solution (acidity and alkalinity)
• Every unit change in pH represents a ten fold
  change in acidity
• Factors in pH of Natural Water
• bedrock and soil type
• vegetation type
• nature and discharge of pollutants
• concentration of carbonates and carbon dioxide
• high concent. produce alkaline water (hi pH)
• low concent. produce acidic waters (low pH)

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pH
Normal surface waters range from 5.5 - 8.5
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pH
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AlkalinityBuffering Action of Streams

• Chemical reactions within streams can cause a
  weak buffer
• Buffering is the ability of water to resist a
  change in its pH
• As acidity increases, the buffering capacity is
  consumed

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Water Hardness

• Total concentration of cations
• calcium
• magnesium
• iron
• manganese
• A reflection of the watershed geology and also
  human activity in the watershed
• Important in the formation of cell material in
  aquatic plants and animals

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Conductivity

• The ability of an aqueous solution to carry an
  electrical current through the movement of ions
• Indicator for dissolved chemicals in water

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Dissolved Oxygen

• Two main sources in stream water
• atmosphere
• waves and tumbling water mix air into water where
  oxygen readily dissolves until saturation occurs
• photosynthesis
• oxygen is introduced by aquatic plants and algae
  as a byproduct of photosynthesis
• Dissolved oxygen decreases with rise in
  temperature

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Dissolved Oxygen
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Dissolved Oxygen

• Essential for fish, invertebrate, plant, and
  aerobic bacteria respiration
• 5-6 ppm - normal fish growth activity
• 3 ppm - stressful to most aquatic organisms
• lt1-2 ppm will not support fish
• Oxygen deficiency factor examples
• aquatic organism consumption
• sewage
• urban and ag runoff
• industrial discharge

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Leaf Litter
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Stream Chemist
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Chemical Data
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Spatial Factors
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Spatial Factors

• Spatial scale and spatial distribution of
  physical and chemical factors influence an
  individual stream dramatically.
• The interdependence of these factors and their
  analysis can predict a given stream environment.

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Spatial Factors

• Geology
• Soils
• Landcover
• Human activities
• landfills
• industrial areas
• cities
• agricultural uses
• Maps and GIS - Spatial monitoring and Analysis

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Spatial Factors
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Typical Landcover in Watershed
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Geology and Biology
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Remote Sensing Data
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Site Topographic Map
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Site A High Altitude Photo
Lower Wheeling Creek Site A 12.0 Kilometers
upstream of the Ohio River at Elm Grove, W.V.
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Site A Topographic Map
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Site A Low Altitude Aerial Photo
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Site A Stream Level View
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Scene on Big Wheeling Creek in 1904
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Sampling Sites

• Water quality sampling sites are representative
  of various sized streams from north to south and
  east to west.
• This allows comparison of water quality at one
  site with the water quality at other sites within
  the watershed.
• This is a watershed approach, which means that
  it is important to view water quality at any one
  site within the context of water quality in the
  overall watershed.

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Streams, Sites, and Sampling Locations in the
Watershed
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Sampling Locations
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Physical Data From Sampling Locations
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Chemical Data From Sampling Locations
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Biological Data From Sampling Locations
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Biological Data From Sampling Locations
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Spatial Factors and Biology
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Volunteer Monitoring Group
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Stonefly
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Biomonitoring
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Mollusk
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Biological Data
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River Continuum Concept
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Interdependence of Abiotic Factors Using GIS As
a Tool for Streams and Watershed Analysis in
Iowa.
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Iowas Native Landscape
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Surveying Crew
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Iowas Prairie
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Prairie Stream
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Plowing the Prairie
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Tiling the Prairie for Agriculture
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Tiling the Prairie for Agriculture
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Straightening a Prairie Stream
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Abiotic FactorsVisualization and Analysisin a
GIS
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Summary

• Stream environment is very dependent on the
  physical and chemical factors of the watershed.
• A specific stream environment is very dependent
  upon the spatial distribution of these factors in
  the watershed.

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References

• Allan, J.D. 1995. Stream Ecology -- Structure
  and Function of Running Waters. Chapman and
  Hall, UK.
• Andersen, K., et al. 1997. Historical Land Use
  and Surface Hydrology Alterations in Iowa
  Agricultural Watersheds. ISU Dept. of Animal
  Ecology, Ames.
• Roth,N.E., J.D. Allan, and D.L. Erickson, 1996,
  Landscape influences on stream biotic integrity
  assessed at multiple spatial scales. Landscape
  Ecology 11 141-156.
• Myers, Robert. 1998. NASA Classroom of the
  Future Exploring the Environment - Water
  Quality. Wheeling, WV. http//www.cotf.edu/ete/mai
  n.html

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References (cont.)

• Anderson P. F. 1997. GIS Research to Digitize
  Maps of Iowa 1832-1859 Vegetation from General
  Land Office Township Plat Maps. Iowa Department
  of Natural Resources.
• Iowa Department of Natural Resources. 1998.
  Natural Resources Geographic Information System
  Library. Iowa DNR, Des Moines.
• Photo Credits
• NASA Classroom of the Future Exploring the
  Environment - Water Quality. Wheeling, WV.
  http//www.cotf.edu/ete/main.html
• Andersen, Kathy. ISU Dept. of Animal Ecology
• Arbuckle, Kelly. ISU Dept. of Animal Ecology