2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH
6/06/2017 | 3:00 PM - 3:15 PM | Landscape vulnerability indicates small stream basins at risk of biological degradation in the Fayetteville Shale, AR | 305B
Landscape vulnerability indicates small stream basins at risk of biological degradation in the Fayetteville Shale, AR
Region-specific human activities, like gas extraction, are often neglected in landscape-stream models, yet their effects may alter streams. Unconventional natural gas (UNG) development requires land-clearing, water withdrawal, and chemicals. The degree that UNG alters water quality may depend on differences in basin natural characteristics. We developed a multi-metric vulnerability model to characterize basin susceptibility to biological degradation by ranking and then multiplying sensitivity and exposure in small stream basins in the Fayetteville Shale, Arkansas. We predicted macroinvertebrate communities in basins exposed to a gradient of UNG in a pasture-dominant landscape would experience a greater change across a vulnerability gradient than basins with only pasture. We sampled macroinvertebrates in 40 basins over a vulnerability gradient in streams with UNG/pasture and pasture only. Macroinvertebrate diversity declined by as much as 88% as vulnerability increased. Macroinvertebrate production metrics increased by 28% across the same vulnerability gradient. Macroinvertebrate response rates of change were the same across UNG and no UNG gradients. Our vulnerability model can be used to identify stream basins vulnerable to degradation as a tool to manage for ecological integrity.
- C27 Landuse and Non-Point source Impacts
- C17 Bioassessment
- S01 Water Quantity and Quality Impacts of Unconventional Fossil Fuel Development on Our Freshwater Futures
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Presenters/Authors
Lucy Baker
(), University of Central Arkansas, lucybaker540@gmail.com;
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Michelle Evans-White
(), University of Arkansas, mevanswh@uark.edu;
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Sally Entrekin
(), Virginia Tech, sallye@vt.edu;
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