Identifying Stressor Risk to Biological Health in Streams and Small Rivers of Western Washington
Presentation Abstract
An essential step in watershed management is the identification of key natural and anthropogenic stressors influencing important biological indicators of watershed health, such as the benthic index of biotic integrity, or B-IBI. Relative risk analysis provides quantifiable associations between biological response and stressors of concern, making this a useful tool to identify potential risks to aquatic biota. For this project, water quality, sediment chemistry, and physical habitat data (146 sites) from the Washington State Department of Ecology’s Status and Trends Monitoring for Watershed Health and Salmon Recovery Program were used to determine the relative importance and strength of relationship between benthic macroinvertebrate metrics and environmental stressors in western Washington streams and small rivers. The results presented here provide essential information needed to protect sites in excellent biological health and identify potential sources of impairment, which complement monitoring programs and support watershed management decisions.
Session Title
Decision support tools to support adaptive management of Salish Sea restoration efforts
Conference Track
Protection, Remediation and Restoration
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2016 : Vancouver, B.C.)
Document Type
Event
Start Date
2016 12:00 AM
End Date
2016 12:00 AM
Location
2016SSEC
Type of Presentation
Oral
Genre/Form
conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Watershed ecology--Management--Risk assessment--Washington (State), Western; Ecosystem health--Risk assessment--Washington (State), Western; Watershed ecology--Washington (State), Western--Management
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Washington (State), Western
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Identifying Stressor Risk to Biological Health in Streams and Small Rivers of Western Washington
2016SSEC
An essential step in watershed management is the identification of key natural and anthropogenic stressors influencing important biological indicators of watershed health, such as the benthic index of biotic integrity, or B-IBI. Relative risk analysis provides quantifiable associations between biological response and stressors of concern, making this a useful tool to identify potential risks to aquatic biota. For this project, water quality, sediment chemistry, and physical habitat data (146 sites) from the Washington State Department of Ecology’s Status and Trends Monitoring for Watershed Health and Salmon Recovery Program were used to determine the relative importance and strength of relationship between benthic macroinvertebrate metrics and environmental stressors in western Washington streams and small rivers. The results presented here provide essential information needed to protect sites in excellent biological health and identify potential sources of impairment, which complement monitoring programs and support watershed management decisions.
