Biological, Hydrological, Water Quality, and Land Use Data Inputs for Alabama Ecohydrology Study (10-01-1999 to 09-30-2014)

The effects of high- and low-flow conditions on biological communities in Alabama streams were investigated by utilizing data on benthic macroinvertebrates, fish communities, hydrology, land use, and water quality. Biological data from streams and rivers in the Mobile River basin and other Gulf Coast drainages was collected from 278 sites between 1999 and 2014. These sites' upstream drainage areas ranged from 1.1-2842.7 square-km in size. Hydrologic metrics were generated using predicted daily streamflow data from the Southeastern Precipitation Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) (La Fontaine et al., 2019). Standardized water-quality gradients were calculated based on sediment and nutrient outputs from the Southeastern Spatially Referenced Regression on Watershed Attributes (SPARROW) model (Roland and Hoos, 2020).

The biological datasets were compiled from samples collected by two state agencies: the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) provided the benthic macroinvertebrate data, while the Geological Survey of Alabama (GSA) supplied the fish data. The benthic macroinvertebrate data included raw taxa counts, biological condition gradient (BCG) scores, and richness scores for Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT). The fish data included raw taxa counts and fish index of biological integrity scores. All biological, hydrological, and water-quality data were used to assess how land use-driven flow conditions impact the native aquatic communities of benthic macroinvertebrates and stream fishes in the Mobile Basin and other Gulf Coast drainages, both above and below the fall line in Alabama (Hubbell, 2025).