Eastern Ecological Science Center research ecologists are working with state and local partners to develop multiple biological assessments of non-tidal stream and river conditions in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
The current study has four primary objectives. First, researchers will use an index of biological condition based on benthic macroinvertebrates developed by the ICPRB, the Chessie BIBI (“Chessie BIBI” Index for Streams - ICPRB (potomacriver.org), and landscape data summarized with the SHEDs data set (Spatial Hydro-Ecological Decision System | SHEDS (ecosheds.org) to develop improved predictive models of stream condition for the entire watershed. Second researchers are working with providers of fish data (e.g, state, federal and local monitoring programs) to develop a compiled database of fish for the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed for use in an assessment of fish habitat. Third, this study will test improvements to models predicting fish habitat when using higher resolution data sources (e.g. 1:24,000) through development of joint pilot studies with NOAA. Fourth, the team is working with both biological datasets to identify stream reaches with long-term data for eventual use in analyses of status and trends. Under objectives one through three, researchers will use the summarized predictor data (i.e. catchment summaries) to develop models and make predictions of stream health and fish habitat based on future conditions using projected land use and climate scenarios. This project is aimed to assist the Chesapeake Bay Program’s partners and stakeholders.
- Improve predictive models of stream health (using benthic macroinvertebrates) for small streams across the entire Chesapeake Bay Watershed.
- Acquire fish survey data from programs across the watershed and compile into a single database and develop an assessment of fish habitat for all lotic systems from headwaters to the tidal fresh system.
- Test improvement in model predictive ability when using 1:24,000 scale data versus 1:100,000 scale for assessing landscape impacts on fish communities through pilot studies.
- Analyze status and trends for both benthic macroinvertebrate and fish data sets with sufficient temporal data.
- Overview
Eastern Ecological Science Center research ecologists are working with state and local partners to develop multiple biological assessments of non-tidal stream and river conditions in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Chesapeake Bay is the Nation's largest estuary and its restoration and protection is a priority. The USGS provides scientific information to help manage this vital ecosystem. As part of that role, staff at the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center created this true color composite image. The image was created using Provisional Surface Reflectance data from five Landsat 8 scenes, acquired in October and November 2014.More information on this image can be found in the National Land Imaging Image Collections page. The current study has four primary objectives. First, researchers will use an index of biological condition based on benthic macroinvertebrates developed by the ICPRB, the Chessie BIBI (“Chessie BIBI” Index for Streams - ICPRB (potomacriver.org), and landscape data summarized with the SHEDs data set (Spatial Hydro-Ecological Decision System | SHEDS (ecosheds.org) to develop improved predictive models of stream condition for the entire watershed. Second researchers are working with providers of fish data (e.g, state, federal and local monitoring programs) to develop a compiled database of fish for the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed for use in an assessment of fish habitat. Third, this study will test improvements to models predicting fish habitat when using higher resolution data sources (e.g. 1:24,000) through development of joint pilot studies with NOAA. Fourth, the team is working with both biological datasets to identify stream reaches with long-term data for eventual use in analyses of status and trends. Under objectives one through three, researchers will use the summarized predictor data (i.e. catchment summaries) to develop models and make predictions of stream health and fish habitat based on future conditions using projected land use and climate scenarios. This project is aimed to assist the Chesapeake Bay Program’s partners and stakeholders.
- Improve predictive models of stream health (using benthic macroinvertebrates) for small streams across the entire Chesapeake Bay Watershed.
- Acquire fish survey data from programs across the watershed and compile into a single database and develop an assessment of fish habitat for all lotic systems from headwaters to the tidal fresh system.
- Test improvement in model predictive ability when using 1:24,000 scale data versus 1:100,000 scale for assessing landscape impacts on fish communities through pilot studies.
- Analyze status and trends for both benthic macroinvertebrate and fish data sets with sufficient temporal data.
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