HR: 14:45h
AN: NB13E-06 INVITED     [Abstracts]
TI: Seasonal algal biomass and its relation to nutrients and biological communities in Indiana
AU: * Caskey, B J
EM: bcaskey@usgs.gov
AU: Frey, J W
EM: jwfrey@usgs.gov
AU: Kim, M H
EM: mkim@usgs.gov
AB: During 2002, samples were collected by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and the U.S. Geological Survey at 38 sites in the Whitewater River and at 38 sites in the East Fork White River Basins. Samples were analyzed for algal biomass (chlorophyll a in periphyton and seston, ash-free-dry-mass in periphyton, and particulate organic carbon in seston), nutrients, habitat, and fish- and invertebrate-community data. Principal components analysis was run separately for seasonal periphyton and seston biomass samples. Initial analysis indicated that seston biomass may be a better predictor of nutrients and fish-community attributes than periphyton biomass. Seston PCA axis one scores were inversely correlated to several of the fish-community metrics. Statistically significant correlations indicated an increase in the seston biomass as the following variables decreased: total Kjehldahl nitrogen, ammonia-nitrogen, total organic carbon, and total phosphorus. Significant statistical correlations were not found between the periphyton axis scores and the biological-community attributes calculated (fish and invertebrate), habitat, or land use. However, ammonia-nitrogen and nitrate-nitrogen concentrations decreased with increases in the periphyton axis scores during late summer. The chlorophyll a data collected during this study broaden the current data used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) in USEPA Nutrient Ecoregions VI and IX.
DE: 1803 Anthropogenic effects
DE: 1806 Chemistry of fresh water
DE: 1871 Surface water quality
SC: North American Benthological Society [NB]
MN: 2005 Joint Assembly