Abstract
Provisional physical habitat indices were developed and validatedfor Maryland Coastal and Non-Coastal Plain streams using variables (commonly called metrics) that best discriminated reference and degraded conditions based on biological, chemicaland land use data from the 1994–97 Maryland Biological Stream Survey (MBSS). These habitat indices contained variables that described structural, hydrological, vegetative and aesthetic components of stream habitat. Variables with the best discriminatory power for Coastal Plain streams were: instream habitat, velocity/depth diversity, pool/glide/eddy quality, embeddedness, maximum depth and aesthetic rating. Physical habitat variables with the best discriminatory power for Non-Coastal Plain sites were: instream habitat, velocity/depth diversity, riffle/run quality, embeddedness, number of rootwads and aesthetic rating. The overall classification efficiency forindex validation was 76% for both indices pooled over both strata. Scaled physical habitat index values (0–100) for bothstrata identified nearly twice as many good sites (31%) as very poor sites (16%). More than half the Maryland sites werein the poor to fair range (53%).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Angermeier, P. L., and J. R. Karr.: 1984, 'Relationships between woody debris and fish habitat in a small warmwater stream', Transact. Amer. Fish. Soc. 113, 716–726.
Argent, D. G. and P. A. Flebbe.: 1999, 'Fine sediment effects on brook trout eggs in laboratory streams', Fis. Res. 39, 253–262.
Ashton, W. D.: 1972. The Logit Transformation. Griffin Press. London.
Barbour, M. T. and J. B. Stribling.: 1991, 'Use of Habitat Assessment in Evaluating the Biological Integrity to Stream Communities. Biological Criteria: Research and Regulation', U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Report 440/5-91-005, Washington, District of Columbia.
Binns, N. A.: 1979, 'A Habitat Quality Index for Wyoming Trout Streams', Fisheries Research Report, Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Chapman, D. W.: 1988, 'Critical review of variables used to define effects of fines in redds of large salmonids', Transact. Amer. Fish. Soc. 117, 1–20.
Cox, D. R.: 1970, Analysis of Binary Data. Chapman and Hall Press, London.
Gordon, N. D., McMahon, T. A. and Finlayson, B. L.: 1992, Stream Hydrology: An Introduction for Ecologists. John Wiley and Sons, Chichester, United Kingdom.
Gorman, O. 1T. and Karr, J. R.: 1978, 'Habitat structure and stream fish communities', Ecology 59, 507–515.
Hall, L. W. Jr., Morgan II, R. P., Perry, E. S. and Waltz, A.: 1999, Development of a provisional physical habitat index for Maryland freshwater streams. Final report CBWP-MANTA-EA-99-12. Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Monitoring and Non-tidal Assessment Division, Annapolis, Maryland.
Haro, R. J. and Brusven, M. A.: 1994, 'Effects of cobble embeddedness on the microdistribution of the sculpin Cottis beldingi and its stonefly prey', Great Basin Natural. 54, 64–70.
Hildrew, A. G.: 1998, 'Physical Habitat and Benthic Ecology of Streams and Rivers', in: G. Breschko and J. Helesic (eds), Advances in River Bottom Ecology. Bachhuys Publisher, Leiden, The Netherlands. p. 13–22.
Hughes, R. M., Kaufmann, P. R., Herlihy, A. T., Kincaid, T. M., Reynolds, L. and Larsen, D. P.: 1998, 'A process for developing and evaluating indices of fish assemblage integrity', Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 55, 1681–1631.
Karr, J. R.: 1981, 'Assessment of biotic integrity using fish communities', Fisheries 6, 21–27.
Kazyak, P. F.: 1997, 'Maryland Biological Stream Survey Sampling Manual', Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Monitoring and Non-tidal Assessment Division, Annapolis, Maryland.
Lenat, D. R. and Crawford, K.: 1994, 'Effects of land use on water quality and aquatic biota of three North Carolina Piedmont streams', Hydrobiologia 294, 185–199.
Maddock, I.: 1999, 'The importance of physical habitat assessment for evaluating river health', Freshw. Biol. 41, 373–391.
Minns, C. K., Carins, V.W., Randell, R. G. and Moore, J. E.: 1994, 'An index of biotic integrity (IBI) for fish assemblages in the littorial zone of Great Lakes areas of concern', Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 55, 1804–1822.
Omernik, J. M.: 1987, 'Ecoregions of the conterminous United States', Ann. Assoc. Amer. Geogr. 77, 118–125.
Plakfin, J. L., Barbour, M. T., Porter, K. D., Gross, S. K. and Hughes, R. M.: 1989, 'Rapid Bioassessment Protocols for Use in Streams and Rivers: Benthic Macroinvertebrates and Fish', U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Report EPA-440/4-89/001, Washington, District of Columbia.
Platts, W. S.: 1976, 'Validity of Methodologies to Document Stream Environments for Evaluating Fishery Conditions', in: Instream Flow Needs Procedures, Volume Two. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, Maryland. p. 267–284
Platts,W. S., Megahan,W. F. and Minshall, G.W.: 1983, 'Methods for Evaluation of Stream Riparian and Biotic Conditions', General Technical Report INT-138, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Ogden, Utah.
Platts, W. S., Torguemada, R. J., Henry, M. L. and Graham, C. K.: 1989, 'Changes in salmonid spawning and rearing from increased delivery of fine sediment to the South Fork Salmon River, Idaho', Transact. Amer. Fish. Soc. 118, 227–283.
Rankin, E. T.: 1989, The Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI); Rationale, Methods and Application, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Columbus, Ohio.
Rankin, E. T.: 1995, 'Habitat Indices in Water Resource Quality Assessments', in: W. S. Davis and T. P. Simon (eds), Biological Assessment and Criteria: Tools for Water Resource Planning and Decision Making, Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, Flordia. pp. 181–208.
Reger, J.: 1995, Memorandum from J. Reger, Maryland Geological Survey, Environmental Geology and Minerals Resources, to J. Perdue, A. Raspberry, and E. Bradley. Digital Files and Metadata for Draft Physiographic Map of Maryland, July 14, 1995.
Roth, N. E., Southerland, M. T., Mercurio, G., Chaillou, J. C., Kazyak, P. F., Stranko, S. S., Prochaska, A., Heimbuch, D. G. and Seibel, J. C.: 1999, State of the Streams: 1995-1997 Maryland Biological Stream Survey Results, CBWP-MANTA-EA-99-6, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Monitoring and Non-tidal Assessment Division, Annapolis, Maryland.
Roth, N. E., Southerland, M. T., Weisberg, S. B., Chaillou, J., Kazyak, P. F., Stranko, S., Klauda, R. J., Hall, L. W. Jr. and Morgan, R. P. II.: 1998, 'Development and evaluation of a fish index of biotic integrity for Maryland freshwater streams', Environ. Monit. Assess. 51, 89–106.
Roussas, G. G.: 1973, A First Course in Mathematical Statistics, Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts.
Sheldon, A. L. and Meffe, G. K.: 1995, 'Path analysis of collective properties and habitat relationships of fish assemblages in coastal plain streams', Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 52, 23–33.
Simon, T. P.: 1999, 'Introduction: Biological Integrity and the Use of Ecological Health Concepts for Application to Water Resource Characterization', in: T. P. Simon (ed.), Assessing the Sustainability of Biological Integrity of Water Resources Using Fish Communities, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida. pp. 2–16.
Stribling, J. B., White, J. S. Jessup, B. J., Boward, D. and Hurd, M.: 1998, Development of a Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity for Maryland Streams, Report. Tetra Tech Incorporated, Owings, Maryland.
Trautman, M. B.: 1981, The Fishes of Ohio, (2 Ed.) Ohio State University Press, Columbus, Ohio.
Van Deusen, R. D.: 1954, Maryland Freshwater Stream Classifications by Watersheds, State of Maryland, Board of Natural Resources, Department of Research and Education, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, Solomons, Maryland.
Wang, L., Lyons, J. and Kanehl, P.: 1998, 'Development and evaluation of a habitat rating system for low gradient Wisconsin streams', Amer. J. Fish. Manage. 18, 775–785.
Yoder, C. O. and Smith, M. A.: 1999, 'Using Fish Assemblages in a State Biological Assessment and Critical Program: Essential Concepts and Considerations', in: T. P. Simon (ed.), Assessing the Sustainability and Biological Integrity of Water Resources Using Fish Communities, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida. pp. 17–56.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hall, L.W., Morgan, R.P., Perry, E.S. et al. Development of a Provisional Physical Habitat Index for Maryland Freshwater Streams. Environ Monit Assess 77, 265–291 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016084507654
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016084507654