Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
integrity relationships in the Tribs. Examination of the secondary data also
revealed the insufficiencies of the dataset. The dataset used for these analyses are
10-12 years old and may be of questionable relevance today as land use and stream
conditions have certainly changed over 15 years. Collection of more current habitat,
biotic and water quality data is necessary for current and future water resources
research and monitoring (recently Ohio EPA has completed additional data collec-
tion of water quality and aquatic habitat conditions in the Lake Erie Tributaries for
the preparation of a TMDL study). Unfortunately, resources and time are often a
limiting factor for individual studies, universities and state agencies. When data are
collected, it is usually in the context of a specific localized study making the data
inapplicable for other larger scale studies. Data collected at a broader spatial scale,
as with the statewide Ohio EPA biotic and habitat data, cannot conceivably be
maintained on a continual basis nor do they provide a good representation of the
variation within a smaller watershed. As this study shows, the use of secondary data
can result in small sample sizes and unclear significance of results.
10.6 Conclusions
This study has provided insights into possible relationships between land cover
and biological/habitat conditions in the Lake Erie Tributaries in the Maumee AOC
within northwest Ohio. While agriculture appears to be the main culprit in stream
health degradation, numerous other interrelated factors have created the conditions
seen in these rural streams. Examination of the datasets for the entire Maumee AOC
indicates that habitat and fish communities in the Tribs are in most cases worse than
their urbanized counterparts.
This study would not have been possible without the 1993-1996 data provided by
the Ohio EPA. However, continued and regular collection of biological and habitat
data in Wolf, Cedar, Crane and Turtle Creeks is clearly needed for analysis of current
land cover/biotic integrity relationships. In conjunction with the expansion of water
quality and biological data collection, there is a need for semi-regular analysis of
publicly available satellite data to determine current land cover and to monitor land
use changes in the Lake Erie Tribs and across the Maumee AOC. This is especially
important as these watersheds experience rapid residential development.
With their low biotic integrity and habitat scores, the Lake Erie Tribs present
many opportunities for future research utilizing the spatial analysis functionality
offered by GIS. Possible future work includes examining the influence of site
specific factors (e.g. rail yards, package plants, faulty septic systems) as well as
watershed-scale analyses. Additionally, this analysis did not take into consideration
geographic and geologic factors that form the hydrology of the watersheds and thus
influence the taxonomic and functional characteristics of these systems. In-depth
modeling of stream gradient as it relates to the biotic communities of the Tribs
could provide great insight into ecological responses that may contribute to the low
IBI scores in the Tribs.
