2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference

March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH

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5/23/2019  |   2:15 PM - 2:30 PM   |   THE FIRST STATEWIDE STREAM MACROINVERTEBRATE BIOASSESSMENT IN WASHINGTON STATE WITH A RELATIVE RISK AND ATTRIBUTABLE RISK ANALYSIS FOR MULTIPLE STRESSORS   |  150 DEF

THE FIRST STATEWIDE STREAM MACROINVERTEBRATE BIOASSESSMENT IN WASHINGTON STATE WITH A RELATIVE RISK AND ATTRIBUTABLE RISK ANALYSIS FOR MULTIPLE STRESSORS

We report results from the first statewide assessment of biological health in perennial streams in Washington State. Using a probabilistic sampling survey design, we made unbiased estimates of biological condition of macroinvertebrate communities throughout the state based on sites sampled from 2009-2012. Results from randomly sampled sites were classified as either good, fair, poor in comparison with 75 regional reference sites that were sampled concurrently. We determined that approximately 34 percent of stream kilometers assessed were in poor biological condition as measured with a multi-metric index, the Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity. Additionally, we evaluated a variety of chemical and physical habitat stressors known to negatively influence macroinvertebrate communities and determined that poor substrate conditions were the most prevalent, most notably relative bed stability and percent sand/fines. A relative risk/attributable risk analysis suggests that improving physical habitat conditions in streams, most notably a reduction in percent sand/fines, will have the greatest impact for improving biological condition for macroinvertebrate communities. It is estimated that approximately 60% of stream kilometers now classified as in poor biological condition in Washington could be improved by reducing the amount of percent sand/fines in the substrate.

  • Bioindicators
  • Invertebrate
  • Sediment

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Presenters/Authors

Chad Larson (), Washington State Department of Ecology, clar461@ecy.wa.gov;


ASHA DISCLOSURE:

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Nonfinancial -