2022 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Virtual Conference

March 13 - 15, 2022

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5/26/2021  |   8:30 AM - 10:30 AM   |  BIOLOGICAL RECOERY AFTER ACID MINE REMEDIATION IN THE AULTMANS RUN WATERSHED   |  Virtual Platform

BIOLOGICAL RECOERY AFTER ACID MINE REMEDIATION IN THE AULTMANS RUN WATERSHED

The appropriate implementation of acid mine drainage (AMD) treatment systems can enhance stream quality and generate substantial biological recovery. Thorough monitoring of biotic conditions in streams with passive control systems is often lacking, despite being essential for making decisions about further treatment action and funding. To meet this need, we measured physicochemical conditions and macroinvertebrate and fish diversity upstream and downstream of three passive treatment systems in the Aultman Run watershed, Indiana County, PA. Diminished water quality was recorded directly downstream of treatments, with 43% receiving a USDA quality rating of poor or fair. In contrast, reaches upstream or not close to treatments made up 100% of the good/excellent quality ratings. Biotic metrics varied among sites, ranging from a site nearly devoid of life (one macroinvertebrate and one fish) to a site with reasonably high biotic diversity (10 macroinvertebrate taxa and 14 fish species). Overall, sites directly downstream of AMD treatments had lower taxonomic richness and water quality than sites upstream or away from treatments. Our findings highlight the importance of routine monitoring to identify fouled or failing treatment systems and prioritize them for repair.

  • Restoration
  • Conservation
  • Stream

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Presenters/Authors

Ryan Neese (), Indiana University of Pennsylvania, mjyv@iup.edu;


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