HR: 1330h
AN: NB33K-09    [Abstracts]
TI: Effectiveness of Road-Stream Crossing Improvements and Bank Stabilization in the Manistee River Watershed, MI: Response of the Benthic Macroinvertebrates
AU: * Stout, N Y
EM: stoutn@gvsu.edu
AF: Annis Water Resources Institute, Grand Valley State University, 740 West Shoreline Drive, Muskegon, MI 49441 United States
AU: Wright, A L
AF: Biology Department, Grand Valley State University, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI 49401-9403 United States
AU: Gressick, N J
AF: Biology Department, Grand Valley State University, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI 49401-9403 United States
AU: Snyder, E B
AF: Biology Department, Grand Valley State University, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI 49401-9403 United States
AB: The Manistee River Watershed is a unique resource used by many individuals including the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians (LRBOI). However, the presence of excessive sediment from continued erosion of stream banks and poorly designed road-stream crossings threaten habitat quality. The U.S. EPA has recently awarded a grant to the LRBOI to improve road-stream crossings and stabilize stream banks. Our objective is to determine how these improvements affect the physical habitat of the stream and the response of macroinvertebrate assemblages. Initial results from a subset of 10 sites indicate that immediately below a restoration site, there was a decline in abundance and family richness post-restoration. Likely this was due to construction-related deposition of sand, which particularly impacted the Diptera (Simuliidae spp. and Chironomidae spp.). In contrast, fall sampling of sites further from the construction zone exhibited an increase in benthic abundance (from 204 to 816 individuals/m²). The extent to which the construction-generated sand will have impacted reaches further from the restoration site are continuing to be monitored. Although the short-term effects appear to be negative, we believe the ongoing monitoring will document an eventual improvement in the macroinvertebrate community and in overall stream ecosystem integrity.
DE: 1803 Anthropogenic effects
DE: 1815 Erosion and sedimentation
SC: North American Benthological Society [NB]
MN: 2005 Joint Assembly