Streams and Environmental Change
Streams and Environmental Change
Climate change and variability, along with adjacent land use, can affect stream conditions and health. The USGS is providing science on changes in stream flows and temperatures on habitats important for fisheries. The findings will help address the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) Goals for fisheries, habitat, and water quality.
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Time marches on, but do factors driving instream habitat and biology remain consistent?
Issue: Stream ecosystems are affected by a complex set of interacting terrestrial and aquatic stressors. With many streams experiencing degraded conditions that often correspond with increased anthropogenic activities, an important outcome of the Chesapeake Bay Program is to improve stream health. The USGS is conducting research to better understand the complex factors affecting stream health...
Altered flow affects the biological health of streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
Issue: The natural cycle of water flow, known as the flow regime, is one of the primary habitat conditions needed for healthy biological communities in streams. However, human activities have drastically altered the natural flow regime of most of the world’s rivers and streams, including those in the Chesapeake watershed, which has resulted in changes not only to the natural habitat but also...
New information on chemical and physical characteristics of streams and floodplains across the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River watersheds
Issue: Improving stream health is an important outcome of the Chesapeake Bay Program partnership. Stream conditions are important for recreational fisheries, and mitigating the amount of nutrients, sediment, and contaminants delivered to the Bay.
New dataset available on stream and floodplain geometry to inform restoration decisions
Issue: The need for stream mapping The physical shape of streams and floodplains can provide information about how water, sediment, and other matter moves through the landscape. Streams can have deep channels (tall streambanks) disconnected from the floodplain or wide shallow channels that easily spill over the banks into the floodplain during high flows. Mapping where streams fall along this...
Projecting stream conditions under future land-use and climate scenarios
Issue: Global change, particularly changes in land use and climate, is dramatically altering stream conditions throughout the world. Healthy streams are important for freshwater fisheries, wildlife, and public recreation. The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) has a goal of improving the health of streams throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed, which includes an outcome of improving the condition of 10...
Videos Highlighting USGS Chesapeake Bay Activities
A list of Chesapeake Bay Program videos highlighting USGS Chesapeake Bay Activities.
Temperature changes affecting brook trout populations
By the Numbers: 23 The maximum temperature, in degrees Celsius, that brook trout can tolerate.
USGS results used to help develop climate indicators
The USGS stream-water-temperature trends in the Chesapeake Bay region are used for the National Climate Change indicator report released by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) entitled Climate Change Indicators in the United States, 2016.
Stream temperature rising throughout the Chesapeake Bay region
U.S. Geological Survey research, published in the journal Climatic Change
Human development leads to a decline in stream health
Changes in stream flow and pollution have altered plant, insect and fish communities across the nation.