Literature review results and regulatory summaries of freshwater stressors influencing biological impairment in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA

This data release contains relevant datasets used in the analysis for the Chesapeake Bay stressor identification project, for which results are described in Fanelli and others (in review). For this project, two existing information sources were compiled and summarized to identify key in-stream stressors reported by the scientific literature or through regulatory assessments to be likely affecting benthic macroinvertebrate community metrics in the Chesapeake Bay region: 1) the peer reviewed multi-stressor literature, in which the effects multiple in-stream stressors on benthic macroinvertebrate community metrics are simultaneously assessed; and 2) reported causes of biological impairment as listed by state or district regulatory agencies in the Environmental Protection Agency's Assessment and Total Maximum Daily Load Tracking and Implementation System (ATTAINS). This data release contains three child items: 1) "Data from the Assessment, Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Tracking and Implementation System (ATTAINS) for evaluating multiple stressors affecting Chesapeake Bay Watershed rivers and streams": The ATTAINS dataset is for the Chesapeake Bay region, which was summarized for the jurisdictional impairment analysis (jurisdictions include the states of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, New York, and Delaware, as well as the District of Columbia). This compiled dataset contains information on a waterbody's Designated Uses, parameter impairments, and potential sources of that impairment. 2) "Multi-stressor literature summary information for Chesapeake Bay stressor identification project": A summary table of the peer-reviewed literature that was considered for the literature review meta-analysis. This dataset includes basic identifying information regarding the report, geographic location of the study, type of field study, the major source or driver that was the focus of the study, and which in-stream stressors were measured. 3) "Results from the literature review meta-analysis for the Chesapeake stressor identification project": The results from the literature review meta-analysis. The dataset includes basic identifying information regarding the report, the response metric for which results were reported, the major source or driver that was the focus of the study, and whether or not the study found the stressor to be important.