Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Evaluating the Illinois Stream Valley Segment Model as an Effective Management Tool

  • Published:
Environmental Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Stream habitat assessments are conducted to evaluate biological potential, determine anthropogenic impacts, and guide restoration projects. Utilizing these procedures, managers must first select a representative stream reach, which is typically selected based on several criteria. To develop a consistent and unbiased procedure for choosing sampling locations, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the Illinois Natural History Survey have proposed a technique by which watersheds are divided into homogeneous stream segments called valley segments. Valley segments are determined by GIS parameters including surficial geology, predicted flow, slope, and drainage area. To date, no research has been conducted to determine if the stream habitat within a valley segment is homogeneous and if different valley segments have varying habitat variables. Two abutting valley segments were randomly selected within 13 streams in the Embarras River watershed, located in east-central Illinois. One hundred meter reaches were randomly selected within each valley segment, and a transect method was used to quantify habitat characteristics of the stream channel. Habitat variables for each stream were combined through a principal components analysis (PCA) to measure environmental variation between abutting valley segments. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was performed on PCA axes 1–3. The majority of abutting valley segments were significantly different from each other indicating that habitat variability within each valley segment was less than variability between valley segments (5.37 ≤ F ≤ 245.13; P ≤ 0.002). This comparison supports the use of the valley segment model as an effective management tool for identifying representative sampling locations and extrapolating reach-specific information.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allan JD (2004) Landscapes and riverscapes: the influence of land use on stream ecosystems. Annual Reviews of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 35:257–284

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bailey RC, Norris R, Reynoldson TB (2003) Bioassessment of freshwater ecosystems: using the reference condition approach. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Ben-Dor A, Shamir R, Yahkini Z (1999) Clustering gene expression patterns. Journal of Computational Biology 6:281–297

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bisson PA, Montgomery DR, Buffington JM (2006) Valley segments, stream reaches, and channel units. In: Hauer FR, Buffington JM (eds) Methods in stream ecology, 2nd edn. Academic Press, San Diego, pp 23–49

    Google Scholar 

  • Brenden TO, Cark RD, Cooper AR, Seelbach PW, Wang L, Aichele SS, Bissell EG, Stewart JS (2006) A GIS framework for collecting, managing, and analyzing multi-scale landscape variables across large regions for river conservation and management. In Hughes RM, Wang L, Seelbach PW (eds) Landscape influences on stream habitats and biological assemblages. American Fisheries Society, Symposium 48, Bethesda, Maryland, pp 49–74

  • Brenden TO, Wang L, Seelbach PW, Clark RD (2008) A spatially-constrained clustering program for river valley segment delineation from GIS river networks. Environmental Modeling and Software 23:638–649

    Google Scholar 

  • Bryce SA, Clarke SE (1996) Landscape-level ecological regions: linking state-level ecoregion frameworks with stream habitat classifications. Environmental Management 20:297–311

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter SR, Caraco NF, Correll DL, Howarth RW, Sharpley AN, Smith VH (1998) Nonpoint pollution of surface waters with phosphorus and nitrogen. Ecological Applications 8:559–568

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crunkilton R, Kleist J, Ramcheck J, DeVita W, Villeneueve D (1996) Assessment of the response of aquatic organisms to long-term in situ responses to urban runoff. In: Roesner LA (ed) Effects of watershed development and management on aquatic ecosystems. American Society of Civil Engineers, New York, pp 95–111

    Google Scholar 

  • ESRI (2006) Arc/Info user’s manual. Environmental Systems Research Institute, Redlands

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisher SG (1997) Creativity, idea generation, and the functional morphology of streams. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 16:305–318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frissell CA, Liss WJ, Warren CE, Hurley MD (1986) A hierarchical framework for stream habitat classification: viewing streams in a watershed context. Environmental Management 10:199–214

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frothingham KM, Rhoads BL, Herricks EE (2002) A multi-scale conceptual framework for integrated ecogeomorphological research to support stream naturalization in the agricultural Midwest. Environmental Management 29:16–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gomi T, Sidle RC, Richardson JS (2002) Understanding processes and downstream linkages of headwater systems. BioScience 52:905–916

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gotelli NJ, Ellison AM (2004) A primer of ecological statistics. Sinauer Associates, Inc, Sunderland

    Google Scholar 

  • Gregory SV, Swanson FJ, McKee WA, Cummins KW (1991) An ecosystem perspective of riparian zones. BioScience 41:540–551

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Groundwater Conservation Advisory Council (2007) Report to the Michigan legislature in response to 2006 public act 34

  • Harding JS, Benfield EF, Bolstad PV, Helfman GS, Jones EBD (1998) Stream biodiversity: the ghost of land use past. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America 95:14843–14847

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Higgins JV, Bryer MT, Khoury ML, Fitzhugh TW (2005) A freshwater classification approach for biodiversity conservation planning. Conservation Biology 19:432–445

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holtrop AM, Dolan C R (2003) Assessment of streams and watersheds in Illinois: development of a stream classification system and fish sampling protocols. Illinois Natural History Survey Aquatic Ecology technical report 03/15

  • Holtrop AM, Hinz LC, Epifanio J (2006) Ecological classification of rivers for environmental assessment and management: model development and risk assessment (T-02-P-001). Project completion report to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Illinois Natural History Survey technical report 2006/12

  • Hudson PL, Griffith RW, Wheaton TJ (1992) Review of habitat classification schemes appropriate to streams, rivers, and connecting channels in the Great Lakes drainage basin. In: Busch WDN, Sly PG (eds) The development of a aquatic habitat classification system for lakes. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 73–107

    Google Scholar 

  • Illinois Department of Natural Resources (1996) Inventory of resource rich areas in Illinois: an evaluation of ecological resources. IDNR, Center for Wildlife Ecology, Springfield

    Google Scholar 

  • Illinois Department of Natural Resources (2002) Fisheries stream sampling guidelines. IDNR, Division of Fisheries, Springfield

    Google Scholar 

  • Inoue N, Masanori M (2002) Effects of longitudinal variation in stream habitat structure on fish abundance: an analysis based on subunit-scale habitat classification. Freshwater Biology 47:1594–1607

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karr JR (1981) Assessment of biotic integrity using fish communities. Fisheries 6:21–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karr JR (1991) Biological integrity: a long-neglected aspect of water resource management. Ecological Applications 1:66–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karr JR, Chu EW (2000) Sustaining living rivers. Hydrobiologia 422(423):1–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karr JR, Toth LA, Dudley DR (1985) Fish communities of Midwestern streams: a history of degradation. BioScience 35:90–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kilgour BW, Stanfield LW (2006) Hindcasting reference conditions in streams. In Hughes RM, Wang L, Seelbach PW (eds) Landscape influences on stream habitats and biological assemblages. American Fisheries Society, Symposium 48, Bethesda, Maryland, pp 623–639

  • Lammert H, Allan JD (1999) Assessing the biotic integrity of streams: effects of scale in measuring the influence of land use/cover and habitat structure on fish and macroinvertebrates. Environmental Management 23:257–270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lemmon PE (1956) A spherical densiometer for estimating forest understory density. Forest Science 2:314–320

    Google Scholar 

  • Leopold LB, Wolman MG, Miller JP (1964) Fluvial processes in geomorphology. Freeman, San Francisco

    Google Scholar 

  • Maxwell, JR, Edwards CJ, Jensen ME, Paustain SJ, Parrot H, Hills DM (1995) A hierarchical framework for aquatic ecological units in North America (Neartic Zone). General technical report NC-176. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, North Central Forest Experimental Station, St. Paul

  • McCune B, Grace JB (2002) Analysis of ecological communities. MjM Sofware Design, Gleneden Beach

    Google Scholar 

  • Meader MR, Goldstein RM (2003) Assessing water quality at large geographic scales: relations among land use, water physicochemistry, riparian condition, and fish community structure. Environmental Management 31:504–517

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meixler MS (1999) Regional setting. In: Bain MB, Stevenson NJ (eds) Aquatic habitat assessment: common methods. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, pp 11–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller MA, Colby ACC, Kanehl P (2006) Report on the regional monitoring and assessment program study of wadeable streams in the driftless area ecoregion of western Wisconsin. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, EPA 600/R-06/165, Washington, DC

  • Minshall GW (1988) Stream ecosystem theory: a global perspective. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 7:263–288

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Minshall GW, Cummins KW, Peterson RC, Cushing CE, Bruns DA, Sedell JR, Vannote RL (1985) Developments in stream ecosystem theory. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 42:1045–1055

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montgomery DR (1999) Process domains and the river continuum. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 35:397–410

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montgomery DR, Buffington JM (1998) Channel processes, classification, and response. In: Naiman RJ, Bilby RE (eds) River ecology and management: lessons learned from the Pacific coastal region. Springer, New York, pp 13–42

    Google Scholar 

  • Montgomery DR, MacDonald LH (2002) Diagnostic approach to stream channel assessment and monitoring. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 38:1–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ney JJ (1999) Practical use of biological statistics. In: Kohler CC, Hubert WA (eds) Inland fisheries management in North America, 2nd edn. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, pp 167–191

    Google Scholar 

  • Palmer MA, Poff NL (1997) The influence of environmental heterogeneity on patterns and processes in streams. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 16:169–173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perry JA, Schaeffer DJ (1987) The longitudinal distribution of riverine benthos-a river discontinuum? Hydrobiologia 148:257–268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Platts WS (1974) Geomorphic and aquatic conditions influencing salmonids and stream classification—with application to ecosystem classification. US Forest Service, Inter-mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Boise

    Google Scholar 

  • Rankin ET (1989) The qualitative habitat evaluation index (QHEI): rationale, methods, and application. Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Division of Water Quality Planning and Assessment, Columbus

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogers CE, Brabander DJ, Barbour MT, Hemond HF (2002) Use of physical, chemical, and biological indices to assess impacts of contaminants and physical habitat alteration in urban streams. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 21:1156–1167

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rosgen DL (1994) A classification of natural rivers. Catena 22:169–199

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roth NE, Allan JD, Erickson DL (1996) Landscape influences on stream biotic integrity assessed at multiple spatial scales. Landscape Ecology 11:141–156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schaeffer DJ, Perry JA (1986) Gradients in the distribution of riverine benthos. Freshwater Biology 16:745–767

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schlosser IJ (1982) Fish community structure and function along two habitat gradients in a headwater stream. Ecological Monographs 52:395–414

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schlosser IJ (1991) Stream fish ecology: a landscape perspective. BioScience 41:704–712

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seelbach PW, Wiley MJ (1997) Overview of the Michigan rivers inventory (MRI) project. Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Division. Fisheries technical report 97-3, Lansing, MI

  • Seelbach PW, Wiley MJ, Kotanchik JC, Baker ME (1997) A landscape-based ecological classification system for river valley segments in lower Michigan (MI-SEV Version 1.0). Michigan Department of Natural Resources, research report 2036, Lansing, MI

  • Seelbach PW, Wang L, Clark RD, Brenden T, Cooper A, Wiley MJ, Allan D, Hinz L, Wehrly KE, Zorn T, Baker E, Stevenson RJ, Pijanowski B, Lyons J, Mitro M, Holtrop A, Day D, DePhilip M (2005) Ecological classification for environmental assessment: demonstration, validation, and application to regional assessment across Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. United States Environmental Protection Agency Grant Number R-83059601-0. Ann Arbor, MI

  • Seelbach PW, Wiley MJ, Baker ME, Wehrly KE (2006) Initial classification of river valley segments across Michigan’s lower peninsula. American Fisheries Society Symposium 48:25–48

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheehan RJ, Rasmussen JL (1999) Large rivers. In: Kohler CC, Hubert WA (eds) Inland fisheries management in North America, 2nd edn. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, pp 431–454

    Google Scholar 

  • Sowa SP, Annis G, Morey ME, Diamond DD (2007) A gap analysis and comprehensive conservation strategy for riverine ecosystems. Ecological Monographs 77:301–334

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Talmage PJ, Perry JA, Goldstein RM (2002) Relation of instream habitat and physical conditions to fish communities of agricultural streams in the northern Midwest. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 22:825–833

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • United States Environmental Protection Agency (1990) Biological criteria: national program for guidance for surface waters. USEPA, Office of Water Regulations and Standards, EPA-440/5-90-004, Washington, DC

  • United States Environmental Protection Agency (2002) National water quality inventory: report to congress, 2002 reporting cycle. USEPA, Office of Water, EPA-841-R-07-001, Washington, DC

  • Vannote RL, Minshall GW, Cummins KW, Sedell JR, Cushing CE (1980) The river continuum concept. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 37:130–137

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walters DM, Leigh DS, Freeman MC, Freeman BJ, Pringle CM (2003) Geomorphology and fish assemblages in a Piedmont river basin, USA. Freshwater Biology 48:1950–1970

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang L, Seelbach PW, Hughes RM (2006) Introduction to landscape influences on stream habitats and biological assemblages. In Hughes RM, Wang L, Seelbach PW (eds) Landscape influences on stream habitats and biological assemblages. American Fisheries Society, Symposium 48, Bethesda, pp 1–23

  • Winger PV (1981) Physical and chemical characteristics of warmwater streams: a review. In: Warmwater streams symposium, American Fisheries Society, pp 32–44

  • Wolman MG (1954) Method of sampling coarse level substrate. Transactions of the American Geophysical Union 35:951–956

    Google Scholar 

  • Zwick P (1992) Stream habitat fragmentation: a threat to biodiversity. Biodiversity and Conservation 1:80–97

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This project was funded cooperatively by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service through the State Wildlife Grant Program (T-25). Additional funding and equipment was provided by the Illinois Wildlife Preservation Fund and the Department of Biological Sciences and Graduate School at Eastern Illinois University. The authors wish to thank Dr. Scott Meiners, Dr. Karen Gaines, Danyelle Dehner, Laura Sass, Chris Gensler, Dave Closson, and Erin Mandel from Eastern Illinois University for their assistance during data collection and analysis.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Eastern Illinois University, 600 Lincoln Avenue, Charleston, IL, 61920, USA

    Stephen S. Warrner & James M. Novak

  2. Department of Biology, University of Alabama-Birmingham, 1300 3rd Avenue South, CH 109, Birmingham, AL, 35294-1170, USA

    Robert U. Fischer

  3. Watershed Protection Section, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, One Natural Resources Way, Springfield, IL, 62702, USA

    Ann M. Holtrop

  4. Illinois Natural History Survey, One Natural Resources Way, Springfield, IL, 62702, USA

    Leon C. Hinz Jr.

Authors
  1. Stephen S. Warrner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Robert U. Fischer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ann M. Holtrop
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Leon C. Hinz Jr.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. James M. Novak
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert U. Fischer.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Warrner, S.S., Fischer, R.U., Holtrop, A.M. et al. Evaluating the Illinois Stream Valley Segment Model as an Effective Management Tool. Environmental Management 46, 761–770 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-010-9551-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-010-9551-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation