2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference

March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH

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5/21/2018 | 12:15 PM - 12:30 PM | STRANGER THINGS: QUANTIFYING BIOLOGICAL COMMUNITIES IN MICROHABITATS IN ARIDLAND RIVERS | 410 B

STRANGER THINGS: QUANTIFYING BIOLOGICAL COMMUNITIES IN MICROHABITATS IN ARIDLAND RIVERS

Biological communities in aridland rivers are often reliant on a “bathtub ring” of autochthonous production. For example, the Rio Grande is an aridland river with high turbidity and shifting substrates, which confine the bathtub ring to a shallow, temporary edge. We investigated the role of hydrologic and hydraulic variables in the distribution of biological parameters in microhabitats of the Rio Grande by conducting transverse surveys at two locations in 2015 and 2016. We collected samples for biological data (chlorophyll a, abundance and diversity of diatoms and invertebrates) and quantified local hydraulics and hydrology (e.g. geomorphology, turbulence strength and intensity, velocity, and turbidity). We used this data with USGS discharge data in Classification and Regression Tree (CART) analysis. Local changes in flow (e.g. velocity, turbulence) and large-scale hydraulic events (e.g. discharge) were important variables driving differences in the biological community. However, we recognise that there are also important variables at the micro-scale that are difficult to quantify. We will discuss the complexities of understanding biological communities in aridland rivers.

Interdisciplinary
Limitation
Hydrology

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CART transcripts are NOT YET available, but will be posted shortly after the conference

Presenters/Authors

Ayesha Burdett (), River Bend Ecology, Australia, Ayesha.Burdett@gmail.com ;