2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH
5/21/2019 | 11:00 AM - 11:15 AM | EFFECTS OF URBANIZATION AND GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE ON STREAM HABITAT AND BENTHIC COMMUNITY COMPOSITION IN PIEDMONT HEADWATER STREAMS | 251 AB
EFFECTS OF URBANIZATION AND GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE ON STREAM HABITAT AND BENTHIC COMMUNITY COMPOSITION IN PIEDMONT HEADWATER STREAMS
Green infrastructure (GI) is increasingly implemented to mitigate the effects of urbanization on stream ecosystems. This type of stormwater management, which focuses on distributed infiltration of stormwater runoff, was implemented in Clarksburg, MD as it underwent urban development over the past 20 years. To understand the ecological effects of urbanization and GI implementation, five headwater streams were intensively monitoring during the same 20-year period, including three watersheds that underwent development and GI implementation and two control watersheds (one forested watershed and one older developed watershed). Stream health was assessed by monitoring streamflow, measuring water quality and habitat, and annual sampling of benthic macroinvertebrate communities. Preliminary results show declines in benthic index of biological integrity (IBI) scores, declines in habitat metrics, and increases in stream conductivity in all three watersheds that underwent development. While IBI scores declined during development in the three GI watersheds, their scores were typically greater than those in the urban control watershed. Future analyses will include characterizing the effects of GI on streamflow patterns, and the application of structural equation modeling to identify key stressors affecting benthic community composition in urbanizing Piedmont streams.
- Biodiversity
- Water Quality
- Disturbance
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Presenters/Authors
Rosemary Fanelli
(), USGS MD-DE-DC Water Science Center, rfanelli@usgs.gov;
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Kristina Hopkins
(), U.S. Geological Survey, khopkins@usgs.gov;
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