Abstract
The biological integrity of stream ecosystems depends critically on human activities that affect land use/cover along stream margins and possibly throughout the catchment. We evaluated stream condition using an Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) and a habitat index (HI), and compared these measures to landscape and riparian conditions assessed at different spatial scales in a largely agricultural Midwestern watershed. Our goal was to determine whether land use/cover was an effective predictor of stream integrity, and if so, at what spatial scale. Twenty-three sites in first-through third-order headwater streams were surveyed by electrofishing and site IBIs were calculated based on ten metrics of the fish collection. Habitat features were characterized through field observation, and site HIs calculated from nine instream and bank metrics. Field surveys, aerial photograph interpretation, and geographic information system (GIS) analyses provided assessments of forested land and other vegetation covers at the local, reach, and regional (catchment) scales.
The range of conditions among the 23 sites varied from poor to very good based on IBI and HI scores, and habitat and fish assemblage measures were highly correlated. Stream biotic integrity and habitat quality were negatively correlated with the extent of agriculture and positively correlated with extent of wetlands and forest. Correlations were strongest at the catchment scale (IBI with % area as agriculture, r2=0.50, HI with agriculture, r2=0.76), and tended to become weak and non-significant at local scales. Local riparian vegetation was a weak secondary predictor of stream integrity. In this watershed, regional land use is the primary determinant of stream conditions, able to overwhelm the ability of local site vegetation to support high-quality habitat and biotic communities.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson, J.R., Harvey, E.H., Roach, J.T. and Whitman, R.E. 1976. A land use and land cover classification system for use with remote sensor data. Geological Survey Professional Paper 964, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington D.C.
Barton, D.R., Taylor, W.D. and Biette, R.M. 1985. Dimensions of riparian buffer strips required to maintain trout habitat in southern Ontario streams. N. Amer. J. Fish. Mgmt 5: 364–378.
Becker, G.C. 1983. Fishes of Wisconsin. The University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, WI.
Berkman, H.E. and Rabeni, C.F. 1987. Effect of siltation on stream fish communities. Envir. Biol. Fishes 18: 285–294.
Delong, M.D. and Brusven, M.A. 1993. Storage and decomposition of particulate organic matter along the longitudinal gradient of an agriculturally-impacted stream. Hydrobiol. 262: 77–88.
Delong, M.D. and Brusven, M.A. 1991. Classification and spatial mapping of riparian habitat with applications toward management of streams impacted by nonpoint source pollution. Environ. Mgmt. 15: 565–571.
Detenbeck, N.E., DeVore, P.W., Niemi, G.J. and Lima, A. 1992. Recovery of temperate-stream fish communities from disturbance: a review of case studies and synthesis of theory. Environ. Mgmt. 16: 33–53.
Fausch, K.D., Lyons J., Karr, J.R. and Angermeier, P.L. 1990. Fish communities as indicators of environmental degradation.In: S.M. Adams (ed.), Biological indicators of stress in fish. Amer. Fish. Soc. Symp. 8: 123–144.
Fausch, K.D. and Northcote, T.G. 1992. Large woody debris and salmonid habitat in a small coastal British Columbia stream. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 49: 682–693.
Frissell, C.A., Liss, W.J., Warren, C.E. and Hurley, M.D. 1986. A hierarchical framework for stream habitat classification: viewing streams in a watershed context. Environ. Mgmt. 10: 199–214.
Gatz, A.J. Jr. and Harig, A.L. 1993. Decline in the Index of Biotic Integrity of Delaware Run, Ohio, over 50 years. Ohio J. Sci. 93: 95–100.
Gregory, S.V., Swanson, F.J., McKee, W.A. and Cummins, K.W. 1991. An ecosystem perspective of riparian zones: Focus on links between land and water. BioScience 41: 540–551.
Karr, J.R. 1991. Biological integrity: a long-neglected aspect of water resource management. Ecol. Appl. 1: 66–84.
Karr, J.R., Fausch, K.D., Angermeier, P.L., Yant, P.R. and Schlosser, I.J. 1986. Assessing biological integrity in running waters: a method and its rationale. Illinois Natural History Survey Special Publication 5. 28 pp.
Karr, J.R. and Schlosser, I.J. 1978. Water resources and the land-water interface. Science 201: 229–234.
Karr, J.R., Toth, L.A. and Dudley, D.R. 1985. Fish communities of Midwestern rivers: a history of degradation. BioScience 35: 90–95.
Lowrance, R., Todd, R., Fail J. Jr., Hendrickson, O. Jr., Leonard, R. and Asmussen, L. 1984. Riparian forests as nutrient filters in agricultural watersheds. BioScience 34: 374–377.
Marsh, P.C. and Luey, J.E. 1982. Oases for aquatic life within agricultural watersheds. Fisheries 7(6): 16–19, 24.
Matthews, W.J. 1987. Community and evolutionary ecology of North American stream fishes. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR). 1991. Qualitative biological and habitat survey protocols for wadable streams and rivers. GLEAS procedure No. 51. Michigan DNR, Surface Water Quality Division, Great Lakes Environmental Assessment Section.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR). 1990. Current use inventory: Data collection procedures and definitions. Michigan Resources Inventory Program, Michigan DNR, Land and Water Management Division.
Miller, R.R., Williams, J.D. and Williams, J.E. 1989. Extinctions of North American fishes during the past century. Fisheries 14(6):22–36.
Minshall, G.W., Cummins, K.W., Petersen, R.C., Cushing, C.E., Bruns, D.A., Sedell, J.R. and Vannote, R.L. 1985. Developments in stream ecosystem theory. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 42: 1045–1055.
Naiman, R.J. (ed.). 1992. Watershed management: balancing sustainability and environmental change. Springer-Verlag, New York.
Naiman, R.J., Decamps, H. and Pollock, M. 1993. The role of riparian corridors in maintaining regional biodiversity. Ecol. Appl. 3: 209–212.
O'Neill, R.V., Johnson, A.R. and King, A.W. 1989. A hierarchical framework for the analysis of scale. Landscape Ecology 3: 193–205.
Ohio E.P.A. 1989. Biological criteria for the protection of aquatic life: Volume III. Standardized biological field sampling and laboratory methods for assesing fish and macroinvertebrate communities. Division of Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Columbus, OH.
Omernik, J.M., Abernathy, A.R. and Male, L.M. 1981. Stream nutrient levels and proximity of agricultural and forest land to streams: some relationships. J. of Soil and Water Conservation 36: 227–231.
Osborne, L.L. and Kovacic, D.A. 1993. Riparian vegetated buffer strips in water-quality restoration and stream management. Freshwat. Biol. 29: 243–258.
Osborne, L.L. and Wiley, M.J. 1988. Empirical relationships between land use/cover and stream water quality in an agricultural watershed. J. Envir. Mgmt. 26: 9–27.
Peterjohn, W.T. and Correll, D.L. 1984. Nutrient dynamics in an agricultural watershed: observations on the role of a riparian forest. Ecol. 65: 1466–1475.
Petersen, R.C. Jr. 1992. The RCE: a riparian, channel and environmental inventory for small streams in the agricultural landscape. Freshwat. Biol. 27: 295–306.
Petersen, R.C. Jr., Madsen, B.L., Wilzbach, M.A., Magadza, C.H.D., Paarlberg, A., Kullberg, A. and Cummins, K.W. 1987. Stream management: emerging global similarities. Ambio 16: 166–179.
Platts, W.S., Megahan, W.F. and Minshall, G.W. 1983. Methods for evaluating stream, riparian, and biotic conditions. U.S. Forest Service General Technical Report INT-138.
Roth, N.E. 1994. Land use, riparian vegetation, and stream ecosystem integrity in an agricultural watershed. M.S. thesis, University of Michigan.
Schlosser, I.J. 1991. Stream fish ecology: a landscape perspective. BioScience 41: 704–712.
Schlosser, I.J. 1982. Fish community structure and function along two habitat gradients in a headwater stream. Ecol. Monogr. 52: 395–414.
Scott, W.B. and Crossman, E.J. 1973. Freshwater fishes of Canada. Bulletin 184, Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Ottawa. 966 pp.
Sedell, J.R., Reeves, G.H., Hauer, F.R., Stanford, J.A. and Hawkins, C.P. 1990. Role of refugia in recovery from disturbances: modern fragmented and disconnected river systems. Environ. Mgmt. 14: 711–724.
Smith, G.R., Taylor, J.N. and Grimshaw, T.W. 1981. Ecological survey of fishes in the Raisin River drainage, Michigan. Michigan Academician 13: 275–305.
Steedman, R.J., 1988. Modification and assessment of an index of biotic integrity to quantify stream quality in southern Ontario. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 45: 492–501.
Strahler, A.N. 1957. Quantitative analysis of watershed geomorphology. Trans. Amer. Geophys. Union 38(6):913–920.
Sweeney, B.W. 1992. Streamside forest and the physical, chemical, and trophic characteristics of Piedmont streams in eastern North America. Water Sci. Tech. 26: 2653–2673.
Trautman, M.B. 1981. The fishes of Ohio. Ohio State University Press. 782 pp.
Vannote, R.L., Minshall, G.W., Cummins, K.W., Sedell, J.R. and Cushing, C.E. 1980. The river continuum concept. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 37: 130–137.
Whittier, T.R., Larsen, D.P., Hughes, R.M., Rohm, C.M., Gallant, A.L. and Omernik, J.M. 1987. The Ohio stream regionalization project: a compendium of results. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Corvallis, OR. EPA/600/3-87/025. 66 pp.
Yant, P. and Humphries, J. 1980 manuscript. Fish faunal changes in the Huron River, southeastern Michigan, 1938–1977.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Roth, N.E., Allan, J.D. & Erickson, D.L. Landscape influences on stream biotic integrity assessed at multiple spatial scales. Landscape Ecol 11, 141–156 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02447513
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02447513