Using Historical Biological Data to Evaluate Status and Trends in the Big Darby Creek Watershed (Ohio, Usa)

Abstract

Abstract-Assessment of watershed ecological status and trends is challenging for managers who lack randomly or consistently sampled data, or monitoring programs developed from a watershed perspective. This study investigated analytical approaches for assessment of status and trends using data collected by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency as part of state requirements for reporting stream quality and managing discharge permits. Fish and benthic macroinvertebrate metrics collected during three time periods (1979-1981, 1986-1989, 1990-1993) were analyzed for the mainstem of Big Darby Creek, a high-quality warm-water stream in central Ohio, USA. Analysis of variance of transformed metrics showed significant differences among time periods for six fish metrics. In addition, significant positive linear trends were observed for four metrics plus the index of biotic integrity score, and negative linear trends for two fish metrics. An analysis of a subset of sites paired by location and sampled over the three periods reflected findings using all available data for the mainstem. In particular, mean estimates were very similar between the reduced and full data sets, whereas standard error estimates were much greater in the reduced subset. Analysis of serial autocorrelation patterns among the fish metrics over the three time periods suggests changes in the nature of stressors over time. A comparison within the most recent time period showed significantly better condition for Big Darby Creek mainstem than for Hellbranch Run (the easternmost subwatershed), after adjusting for watershed size. The consistency of paired and nonrandomized results suggested that either type of data might be judiciously used for this watershed assessment. Results indicated that overall biological condition of the mainstem of the Big Darby Creek watershed has significantly improved since the early 1980s.

Predicting levels of stress from biological assessment data: Empirical models from the Eastern Corn Belt Plains, Ohio, Usa

“…The particularly high MSPRs for the Lag and Stream ID models indicate that the spatial structure of the data changed from the earlier time period to the later. This conclusion is supported by an analysis of the historical trends in one of the streams—the Big Darby Creek [19]. In that study, a higher degree of spatial correlation was seen in the time periods of 1986 to 1993, which would roughly correspond to the period of time of the training data set, as compared to an earlier time period of 1979 to 1981.…”

Assessing ecological risk in watersheds: A case study of problem formulation in the Big Darby Creek watershed, Ohio, USA

“…The federally endangered Scioto madtom ( Noturus trautmani ), known only from the Big Darby Creek, and the eastern sand darter ( Am‐mocrypta pellucida ) (under review for federal listing) have not been collected in the watershed since 1957 and 1960, respectively [2]. Biological surveys by the OEPA have indicated decreases in biological indices of fish and macroinvertebrate communities in some stream reaches, whereas others have shown improvement (OEPA draft report, 1999) [13]. Although the total number of fish species has declined over the past 50 years, longitudinal profiles of the Big Darby suggest that more recently, improvement has occurred in the fish (Fig.…”

Assessing Ecological Risk in Watersheds: A Case Study of Problem Formulation in the Big Darby Creek Watershed, Ohio, Usa

“…With the completion of the Big Darby problem formulation, on-going analyses are being conducted that will ultimately be integrated into risk characterization and implemented in risk management. Specific analyses that grew out of the problem formulation of the Big Darby Creek watershed ecological risk assessment will be discussed in the papers that follow [13,27,70,71].…”

“…The federally endangered Scioto madtom (Noturus trautmani), known only from the Big Darby Creek, and the eastern sand darter (Ammocrypta pellucida) (under review for federal listing) have not been collected in the watershed since 1957 and 1960, respectively [2]. Biological surveys by the OEPA have indicated decreases in biological indices of fish and macroinvertebrate communities in some stream reaches, whereas others have shown improvement (OEPA draft report, 1999) [13]. Although the total number of fish species has declined over the past 50 years, longitudinal profiles of the Big Darby suggest that more recently, improvement has occurred in the fish ( Fig.…”

“…Seven hypotheses were developed that described relationships in the Big Darby Creek watershed suggested by the conceptual model. The first three have been tested (OEPA draft report, 1999) [13] and the last four are in development.…”