Pursuant to a utility's intent to file for permission to build a generating station along... more Pursuant to a utility's intent to file for permission to build a generating station along the Nanticoke River, Maryland, a field program was conducted to update characterizations of major aquatic biota of the river in proximity to the existing power plant and a potential intake/discharge location. This characterization sampled five stations on the Nanticoke River, spanning 14 miles from Chapter
Watershed land cover is widely used as a predictor of stream-ecosystem condition. However, numero... more Watershed land cover is widely used as a predictor of stream-ecosystem condition. However, numerous spatial factors can confound the interpretation of correlative analyses between land cover and stream indicators, particularly at broad spatial scales. We used a stream-monitoring data set collected from the Coastal Plain of Maryland, USA to address analytical challenges presented by (1) collinearity of land-cover class percentages, (2) spatial autocorrelation of land cover and stream data, (3) intercorrelations among and spatial autocorrelation within abiotic intermediaries that link land cover to stream biota, and (4) spatial arrangement of land cover within watersheds. We focused on two commonly measured stream indicators, nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) and macroinvertebrate assemblages, to evaluate how different spatial considerations may influence results. Partial correlation analysis of land-cover percentages revealed that simple correlations described relationships that could not be ...
A large proportion of streams in western Maryland are subject to acidification and subsequent los... more A large proportion of streams in western Maryland are subject to acidification and subsequent loss of biological resources. A decision support approach was applied to aid in selecting streams as candidates for liming to mitigate effects of acidification. The objective of mitigation is restoration and protection of balanced populations of indigenous fish and invertebrates. Stream water chemistry, watershed area, and land use information were obtained for 285 stream reaches from three existing surveys (the 1987 Maryland Synoptic Stream Chemistry Survey, the 1989 Western Maryland Stream Survey, and a 1988 USGS Catoctin Stream Study). Reaches selected were concentrated in Garrett County (11 reaches), with four reaches occurring in Frederick County and three reaches in Allegany County.
A state-wide survey is currently being designed to assess the status of Maryland biological strea... more A state-wide survey is currently being designed to assess the status of Maryland biological stream resources. The report provides an assessment of the feasibility of using an approach similar to Karr's Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) for reduction and interpretation of data obtained from the survey. Relationships among instream physical habitat, landuse, water quality characteristics and biological communities were examined in western Maryland, and the Piedmont region. Additionally, a trial biotic index for western Maryland fish was tested using available data. Biologically based metrics were found to have some ability to discriminate sites with respect to anthropogenic influences; thus, it appears feasible to devise an aggregated measure of biological integrity for detecting anthropogenic stress in streams of the Appalachian Plateau and Piedmont regions of Maryland. Two remaining challenges are to improve the sensitivity of the metrics and to develop a sufficient understanding ...
Monitoring Ecological Condition at Regional Scales, 1998
... 1986), which has been adapted for a variety of regions (sec Simon and Lyons 1995) and taxonom... more ... 1986), which has been adapted for a variety of regions (sec Simon and Lyons 1995) and taxonomic groups (eg, Fore et al 1996, Barbour et al. 1996, Weisberg et al. 1996,1997). ... 1996), freshwater macroinvertebrates (eg, Barbour et al. 1996, Fore et al. ...
Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 1997
Double-pass removal sampling is frequently used to quantify absolute abundance of fish in streams... more Double-pass removal sampling is frequently used to quantify absolute abundance of fish in streams. The method can fail, however, if catch on the second pass equals or exceeds that on the first pass. One way to avoid this problem is to pool catch data from several sample sites, but this strategy introduces bias from unequal probability of capture across sample sites. Here we present an analytical approach for pooling that nearly eliminates the bias if probability of capture exceeds 50% and that reduces bias at lower capture probabilities. We also present an application of this approach to the Maryland Biological Stream Survey program, which used double-pass sampling at 270 randomly selected sites throughout Maryland in 1995. Although double-pass sampling failed for 24 of 26 species, it only failed for 2 species with pooling. Bias introduced by pooling was generally less than 10% and was corrected for by our analytical methodology; the estimated probability of capture exceeded 50% for 20 of the 26 species examined.
Journal of Agricultural, Biological, and Environmental Statistics, 1999
Page 1. A Multiyear Lattice Sampling Design for Maryland-Wide Fish Abundance Estimation Douglas G... more Page 1. A Multiyear Lattice Sampling Design for Maryland-Wide Fish Abundance Estimation Douglas G. HEIMBUCH, John C. SEIBEL, Harold T. WILSON, and Paul F. KAZYAK A latticed, multiyear, multistaged sampling design ...
Pursuant to a utility's intent to file for permission to build a generating station along... more Pursuant to a utility's intent to file for permission to build a generating station along the Nanticoke River, Maryland, a field program was conducted to update characterizations of major aquatic biota of the river in proximity to the existing power plant and a potential intake/discharge location. This characterization sampled five stations on the Nanticoke River, spanning 14 miles from Chapter
Watershed land cover is widely used as a predictor of stream-ecosystem condition. However, numero... more Watershed land cover is widely used as a predictor of stream-ecosystem condition. However, numerous spatial factors can confound the interpretation of correlative analyses between land cover and stream indicators, particularly at broad spatial scales. We used a stream-monitoring data set collected from the Coastal Plain of Maryland, USA to address analytical challenges presented by (1) collinearity of land-cover class percentages, (2) spatial autocorrelation of land cover and stream data, (3) intercorrelations among and spatial autocorrelation within abiotic intermediaries that link land cover to stream biota, and (4) spatial arrangement of land cover within watersheds. We focused on two commonly measured stream indicators, nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) and macroinvertebrate assemblages, to evaluate how different spatial considerations may influence results. Partial correlation analysis of land-cover percentages revealed that simple correlations described relationships that could not be ...
A large proportion of streams in western Maryland are subject to acidification and subsequent los... more A large proportion of streams in western Maryland are subject to acidification and subsequent loss of biological resources. A decision support approach was applied to aid in selecting streams as candidates for liming to mitigate effects of acidification. The objective of mitigation is restoration and protection of balanced populations of indigenous fish and invertebrates. Stream water chemistry, watershed area, and land use information were obtained for 285 stream reaches from three existing surveys (the 1987 Maryland Synoptic Stream Chemistry Survey, the 1989 Western Maryland Stream Survey, and a 1988 USGS Catoctin Stream Study). Reaches selected were concentrated in Garrett County (11 reaches), with four reaches occurring in Frederick County and three reaches in Allegany County.
A state-wide survey is currently being designed to assess the status of Maryland biological strea... more A state-wide survey is currently being designed to assess the status of Maryland biological stream resources. The report provides an assessment of the feasibility of using an approach similar to Karr's Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) for reduction and interpretation of data obtained from the survey. Relationships among instream physical habitat, landuse, water quality characteristics and biological communities were examined in western Maryland, and the Piedmont region. Additionally, a trial biotic index for western Maryland fish was tested using available data. Biologically based metrics were found to have some ability to discriminate sites with respect to anthropogenic influences; thus, it appears feasible to devise an aggregated measure of biological integrity for detecting anthropogenic stress in streams of the Appalachian Plateau and Piedmont regions of Maryland. Two remaining challenges are to improve the sensitivity of the metrics and to develop a sufficient understanding ...
Monitoring Ecological Condition at Regional Scales, 1998
... 1986), which has been adapted for a variety of regions (sec Simon and Lyons 1995) and taxonom... more ... 1986), which has been adapted for a variety of regions (sec Simon and Lyons 1995) and taxonomic groups (eg, Fore et al 1996, Barbour et al. 1996, Weisberg et al. 1996,1997). ... 1996), freshwater macroinvertebrates (eg, Barbour et al. 1996, Fore et al. ...
Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 1997
Double-pass removal sampling is frequently used to quantify absolute abundance of fish in streams... more Double-pass removal sampling is frequently used to quantify absolute abundance of fish in streams. The method can fail, however, if catch on the second pass equals or exceeds that on the first pass. One way to avoid this problem is to pool catch data from several sample sites, but this strategy introduces bias from unequal probability of capture across sample sites. Here we present an analytical approach for pooling that nearly eliminates the bias if probability of capture exceeds 50% and that reduces bias at lower capture probabilities. We also present an application of this approach to the Maryland Biological Stream Survey program, which used double-pass sampling at 270 randomly selected sites throughout Maryland in 1995. Although double-pass sampling failed for 24 of 26 species, it only failed for 2 species with pooling. Bias introduced by pooling was generally less than 10% and was corrected for by our analytical methodology; the estimated probability of capture exceeded 50% for 20 of the 26 species examined.
Journal of Agricultural, Biological, and Environmental Statistics, 1999
Page 1. A Multiyear Lattice Sampling Design for Maryland-Wide Fish Abundance Estimation Douglas G... more Page 1. A Multiyear Lattice Sampling Design for Maryland-Wide Fish Abundance Estimation Douglas G. HEIMBUCH, John C. SEIBEL, Harold T. WILSON, and Paul F. KAZYAK A latticed, multiyear, multistaged sampling design ...
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