2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH
5/26/2021 | 8:30 AM - 10:30 AM | THE EFFECT OF TWO-STAGE DITCH CHANNEL MORPHOLOGY ON BENTHIC COMMUNITY STRUCTURE WITHIN THE BLANCHARD RIVER WATERSHED | Virtual Platform
THE EFFECT OF TWO-STAGE DITCH CHANNEL MORPHOLOGY ON BENTHIC COMMUNITY STRUCTURE WITHIN THE BLANCHARD RIVER WATERSHED
Two primary threats to northwest Ohio watersheds are hydrologic variation and nutrient enrichment. Two-stage ditches are one attempt to mitigate these threats and are designed to reduce discharge and sediment loading into primary watershed tributaries. Previous studies have documented that ditches can also serve as habitat for organisms and can make substantial contributions to diversity within watersheds, but the effect of two-stage ditch morphology on benthic communities is not well known and, in at least one study, appears to not be important. Thus, the focus of this investigation was to determine if benthic community composition in a two-stage ditch differed from traditional open ditch habitats (Blanchard River Watershed, Ohio). Multivariate analysis indicated that two stage ditch benthic communities were significantly different from that of the traditional, open ditch sites. Two-stage ditch sites were characterized by lower turbidity, lower water temperature and a detritivore-dominant community, while open ditch sites were dominated by macroalgae and herbivorous snails. Two-stage ditch sites had a closed canopy due to increased plant biomass within the ditch, leading to less light availability and possibly contributing to lower water temperatures when compared to open ditch sites.
- Monitoring
- Food webs
- Stream
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Presenters/Authors
Robert Verb
(), Ohio Northern University, r-verb@onu.edu;
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Colin Light
(), Ohio Northern University, c-light@onu.edu;
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Connor Ney
(), Ohio Northern University, Department of Biological & Allied Health Sciences, c-ney@onu.edu;
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Lauren Govekar
(), Ohio Northern University, l-govekar@onu.edu;
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Janet Deardorff
(), Ohio Northern University, j-deardorff@onu.edu;
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Chad Carroll
(), Hancock Soil & Water Conservation District, c-carroll@onu.edu;
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Leslie Riley
(), Ohio Northern University, l-riley.1@onu.edu;
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