The urban stream syndrome: current knowledge and the search for a cure

Walsh, Christopher J.; Roy, Allison H.; Feminella, Jack W.; Cottingham, P; Groffman, Peter M.; Morgan, Raymond P.

doi:10.1899/04-028.1

Cited by 2,314 publications

(1,575 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…The Jordan River exhibits the typical Bsymptoms^of an urban stream including a flashy hydrograph, elevated concentrations of nutrients and contaminants, increased diel DO fluctuations, homogenized channel morphology, and reduced biotic richness with the dominance of more tolerant species (Paul and Meyer 2001;Walsh et al 2005;UT DWQ 2012). Further, late-summer DO concentrations in the lower river are often in violation of the defined minimum concentration suitable for aquatic organisms (4.0-4.5 mg L −1 depending on the time of year).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In many cases this is a legacy effect of historic urban infrastructure that was designed to channel all runoff and wastewater directly into the closest river (Kaushal and Belt 2012) so that waste would be removed from the immediate area. Whether perennially via wastewater or ephemerally via storm water, a large amount of human-derived pollutants enters into rivers, resulting in unintended consequences such as eutrophication and reduced biotic richness (among others; e.g., Paul and Meyer 2001;Walsh et al 2005;Wenger et al 2009). Efforts to address water quality impairments in the United States are informed by the total maximum daily load (TMDL) process.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The majority of these OM budgets were created for headwater streams in largely undisturbed watersheds and viewed OM as a limiting resource (Webster and Meyer 1997;Tank et al 2010). In urban systems where novel aquatic ecosystems suffer from various symptoms of the urban stream syndrome (Walsh et al 2005), DO concentrations are generally depleted and OM is abundant. As OM budgets are integrative measures of ecosystem condition, they may be useful in diagnosing symptoms of the urban stream syndrome.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Beyond the urban stream syndrome: organic matter budget for diagnostics and restoration of an impaired urban river

2016

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In response to water quality standard violations linked to excessive organic matter (OM) and a lack of sampling data informing the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), an organic matter budget was created to quantify and identify sources of OM in the lower Jordan River (Salt Lake City, UT). By sampling dissolved, fine, and coarse particulate OM, as well as measuring ecosystem metabolism at seven different sites, the researchers aimed to identify the origin of excess OM, and understand pathways by which different size classes of the OM pool are generated. The dissolved fraction (DOM; 94 %) was found to be the dominant form of OM transported within the river with fine particulate organic matter (FPOM; 6 %) the second most abundant, and coarse particulate organic matter (CPOM; 1 %) transport relatively insignificant in the overall OM budget. Primary production exceeded respiratory losses in the upper river, and this, along with OM inputs from two tributaries (where water reclamation facilities discharge into the river) delivered excess OM to the impaired lower reaches. Increasing stream metabolism index (SMI) with distance downstream (>1 in the lower river) further demonstrated that transport of excessive organic matter into the lower river was from upstream sources and not due to lateral inputs. This simple approach to characterizing the organic matter budget as it relates to water quality in the Jordan River was effective and could serve as a model for future studies attempting to quantify and identify sources of OM in urban ecosystems.Keywords Water quality impairment . Organic matter budget . Urban stream syndrome Urban Ecosyst (2016) 19:1623-1643 DOI 10.1007 A TMDL study defines the relationship between pollutant sources and in-stream water quality conditions. Based on this relationship, a permissible load is defined that will result in meeting state water quality standards and restore aquatic life beneficial use support for impaired segments of the river (UT DWQ 2012).

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Beyond the urban stream syndrome: organic matter budget for diagnostics and restoration of an impaired urban river

2016

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“…In the upper basin, streams provide drinking water for farm animals (pigs and poultry). Canalization of the sites alters the evaporation balance, increases the frequency and magnitude of floods, contributes to the alteration of flow dynamics, and increases erosion and transport of nutrients, sediments and pollutants (Walsh et al, 2005). Altered drainage systems, soil compaction, and modification of the mosaic of natural habitats, patches, and ecotones further affect the diversity of aquatic organisms (Allan et al, 1997).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Land use and biotic integrity in shallow streams of the Hondo River basin, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Pacheco-Díaz

Schmitter‐Soto

Schmook

et al. 2017

RBT

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Aquatic environments face a variety of threats in the Hondo River basin, Southeastern Yucatán Peninsula. Some of these impacts, like pollution by pesticides, may depend on land use and cover. Our objective was to assess the effect of land use/cover using a previously published index of biotic integrity (IBI), based on fishes and designed for shallow streams in the Hondo River basin. Our hypothesis was that land uses that cause deforestation and pollution, such as urbanization, cattle breeding, or sugar cane fields, would be reflected in low IBI values, at least at some spatial scales. The 23 sites originally used in [2008][2009] to estimate by electrofishing the relative abundance and other characteristics of selected fish species and guilds to construct the IBI, were revisited in February 2010, to validate by direct inspection the type of land use/cover suggested by landscape information in digital databases. We analyzed the effect of seven types of land use/cover (agriculture, pasture, human settlements, water bodies, wetlands, forest, and secondary vegetation) on the IBI values, at four spatial scales, i.e., the percent of every land use/cover at progressively larger circles (125, 250, 500, and 1 000 m diameter) centered on the water body where the IBI value was measured. Correlations were established among the percent land/use cover by scale around 23 sites, and with their corresponding IBI values. Then, Student's t tests were calculated to examine significant differences in land use/cover between groups of localities above and below the median IBI value, and Mann-Whitney's U tests were applied to compare IBI values between localities with and without a given landscape cover. Agriculture, human settlements, and secondary vegetation correlated negatively with the IBI; forests positively. Differences were significant (p<0.05) for forest (higher in sites with higher IBI values) and human settlements (lower in sites with higher IBI). Of all the landscape categories located in the Hondo River basin, with the exception of pasture, those of anthropogenic origin tended to be detrimental to aquatic biotic integrity. Rev. Biol. Trop. 65 (4): 1448-1458. Epub 2017 December 01.Key words: human impact, fishes, environmental risk, landscape dynamics, index of biotic integrity, aquatic diversity.Along the Mexican-Belizean Hondo River basin, most human settlements used to subsist on forestry, agriculture, livestock, and tourism (although since the early 2000s most of them rely on government subsidies and remittances from the United States or from Cancún and Playa del Carmen: Castellanos, 2010). Some of these activities threaten freshwater systems due to creation of waste, such as organic matter and pesticides, among others. Agriculture, transport, and urban residual water are the main sources of pollution (Buenfil-Rojas, Álvarez-Legorreta, & Cedeño-Vázquez, 2014;Sánchez, Álvarez-Legorreta, Pacheco, Carrillo, & González, 2016). Additionally, the presence of invasive species in the region, like tilapia Oreochromis mo...

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“…For example, many rivers in and around urban areas are subject to inputs of contaminants and nutrients (e.g., Kaushal et al, 2014;Lee et al, 2016), direct modification and/or presence of infrastructure such as hardened shores, dams, and road crossings (e.g., Strayer and Findlay, 2010), altered hydrology (Walsh et al, 2005), multiple invasions of non-native species (e.g., Liendo et al, 2016), and climate change. As a result, scientists and managers working in different urban settings will consider the single and combined effects of a common set of threats and alterations; freshwater ecosystems in other settings will have different threat profiles.…”

Section: Threat Co-occurrence May Inform Science and Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Meeting the challenge of interacting threats in freshwater ecosystems: A call to scientists and managers

Craig

Olden

Arthington

et al. 2017

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

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101

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Human activities create threats that have consequences for freshwater ecosystems and, in most watersheds, observed ecological responses are the result of complex interactions among multiple threats and their associated ecological alterations. Here we discuss the value of considering multiple threats in research and management, offer suggestions for filling knowledge gaps, and provide guidance for addressing the urgent management challenges posed by multiple threats in freshwater ecosystems. There is a growing literature assessing responses to multiple alterations, and we build off this background to identify three areas that require greater attention: linking observed alterations to threats, understanding when and where threats overlap, and choosing metrics that best quantify the effects of multiple threats. Advancing science in these areas will help us understand existing ecosystem conditions and predict future risk from multiple threats. Because addressing the complex issues and novel ecosystems that arise from the interaction of multiple threats in freshwater ecosystems represents a significant management challenge, and the risks of management failure include loss of biodiversity, ecological goods, and ecosystem services, we also identify actions that could improve decision-making and management outcomes. These actions include drawing insights from management of individual threats, using threat attributes (e.g., causes and spatio-temporal dynamics) to identify suitable management approaches, testing management strategies that are likely to be successful despite uncertainties about the nature of interactions among threats, avoiding unintended consequences, and maximizing conservation benefits. We also acknowledge the broadly applicable challenges of decision-making within a socio-political and economic framework, and suggest that multidisciplinary teams will be needed to innovate solutions to meet the current and future challenge of interacting threats in freshwater ecosystems.

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The urban stream syndrome: current knowledge and the search for a cure

Cited by 2,314 publications

References 59 publications

Beyond the urban stream syndrome: organic matter budget for diagnostics and restoration of an impaired urban river

Beyond the urban stream syndrome: organic matter budget for diagnostics and restoration of an impaired urban river

Land use and biotic integrity in shallow streams of the Hondo River basin, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Meeting the challenge of interacting threats in freshwater ecosystems: A call to scientists and managers

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