Macroinvertebrate sensitivity thresholds for sediment in Virginia streams

Govenor, Heather; Krometis, Leigh Anne Henry; Willis, Lawrence; Angermeier, Paul L.; Hession, W. Cully

doi:10.1002/ieam.4086

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…The stronger relationship between feeding preferences and embeddedness may be attributed to reduction in interstitial spaces of the stream bed, limiting the food available for both benthic and specialist feeders. Similarly, Govenor et al (2019) found that embeddedness was the most important form of sediment for stream macroinvertebrates in Virginia; such invertebrates are commonly eaten by benthic and specialist feeders. A causative link between silt cover and reproductive traits remains unclear because few fish we collected were apparently actively reproducing.…”

Section: Trait Responses To Deposited Sedimentmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…managers understand anthropogenic influences on fish assemblages. Schwartz et al (2011) examined relationships between functional traits and turbidity, and Govenor et al (2019) found embeddedness to be the most impactful form of sediment to macroinvertebrate communities. However, few studies explicitly link traits within local fish assemblages to in-stream sediment deposition.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Deposited sediment influences occurrence of functional traits of stream fishes

Hirschler,

Villamagna,

Angermeier

et al. 2024

Ecology of Freshwater Fish

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To better understand stream‐fish sensitivity to fine sediment, we documented assemblage‐wide responses by selected traits along a sedimentation gradient. We then discuss the management implications of these ‘dose–response’ relations in the contexts of biotic assessments and conservation of sediment‐sensitive species. We identified a spatial gradient in sediment deposition among streams within the upper Piedmont of the Roanoke River basin in North Carolina and Virginia. We assessed fine‐sediment sensitivity of 81 species based on eight species traits stratified by four attributes: food preference, feeding location, spawning substrate and spawning behaviour. We then ranked each trait and scored each species with respect to its sediment sensitivity. Using data from electrofishing surveys during 2018–2019, we calculated proportional abundances of traits observed at 30 sites throughout the study area and grouped species by their aggregate sensitivity scores. We assessed relations between embeddedness and silt cover and occurrences of species and traits using a combination of regression and ordination approaches. All traits tested responded to embeddedness or silt cover, or both. Feeding traits exhibited the strongest responses to embeddedness, while reproductive traits exhibited the strongest responses to silt cover. Our findings indicate that negative responses of the probability of presence for high‐sensitivity traits to embeddedness and silt cover were linear, with no apparent thresholds. Additionally, proportional abundances of species with multiple high‐sensitivity traits were inversely related to embeddedness and silt cover. Overall, our findings regarding population‐level responses to sedimentation were consistent with our findings for trait‐specific responses. Our analysis of species sensitivity to fine sediment corroborated the patterns we saw in our trait‐specific analyses, indicating that population responses to sedimentation can be predicted from combinations of species traits. The ‘dose–response’ relations we documented may be applicable to managing sediment impacts on fishes, especially in the contexts of biotic assessments and conservation of sediment‐sensitive species.

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Section: Trait Responses To Deposited Sedimentmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deposited sediment influences occurrence of functional traits of stream fishes

Hirschler,

Villamagna,

Angermeier

et al. 2024

Ecology of Freshwater Fish

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“…The magnitude of the HI reflects the thickness of the loop shape; a larger absolute magnitude means that there is a greater difference between the rising and falling limbs of the flow event, yielding a wider, more circular looking loop. 42 The absolute magnitude of HI may reflect antecedent flow conditions or variations in Q through the event. 43 Three main shapes of hysteresis loops (circular, figure eight, and linear) are commonly observed in nature and provide insight into the behavior of the dependent variable during high-flow events.…”

Section: ■ Experimental Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Stroubles Creek has been extensively studied since the early 1900s, with much of the work focusing on bacterial ecology and water quality. , Over the past few decades, research projects have diversified to include a variety of overlapping fields, including hydrology, , land use and imaging, , restoration and monitoring, , ecosystem metabolism and biogeochemistry, , and organismal studies both within the stream and along the riparian corridor. , Pressures from the urbanizing watershed, Virginia Tech’s expansion, and climate change have continued to increase anthropogenic stress on this water body. One specific pressure is the use of road salts by both the Town of Blacksburg and the Virginia Tech Department of Facilities Operations, as well as the latter’s use of de-icing brine obtained from its Central Steam Plant.…”

Section: Experimental Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A clockwise loop (positive HI), where the concentration increases quickly compared to discharge (also called “first flush”), suggests a proximal source, while a counterclockwise loop (negative HI), where concentrations increase slowly compared to discharge, suggests a distal source. The magnitude of the HI reflects the thickness of the loop shape; a larger absolute magnitude means that there is a greater difference between the rising and falling limbs of the flow event, yielding a wider, more circular looking loop . The absolute magnitude of HI may reflect antecedent flow conditions or variations in Q through the event .…”

Section: Experimental Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Salt Dilution and Flushing Dynamics of an Impaired Agricultural–Urban Stream

et al. 2020

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Anthropogenic freshwater salinization is increasing with global change. Rising freshwater salinity threatens ecosystem biodiversity, health, and services via toxicity to organisms and mobilization of nutrients and metals. Brining roads is one major source of freshwater salinization that continues to grow with rising urbanization. While the detrimental effects of salinization in streams are well-documented, high-frequency, temporal patterns in salt transport, particularly during winter road de-icing in mixed land use landscapes, are less understood. To address this knowledge gap, we analyzed high-frequency specific conductance as a proxy for salinity across 114 high-flow events from 2013 to 2018 in an impaired stream draining mixed agriculture−urban land use. The specific conductance was highest in winter (median = 947 μS cm −1 ) and decreased with first-order kinetics up to 90 days after brining (β 1 = −0.003), suggesting lasting impacts of road de-icing on water quality. Although hysteresis patterns suggested a transition from distal to proximal salt sources, they showed no clear correlation of flushing versus dilution to brining events. While seasonal brining increased salinity in receiving streams, unpredictable transport dynamics reduced the efficacy of hysteresis in characterizing salt transport dynamics. Thus, the complexity of mixed land use watersheds requires more spatially and temporally explicit monitoring to characterize stream salinization dynamics.

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