PARENT SESSION
Oral Session #7: Aquatic Ecology: Stream ecosystems. Presiding: T. Ehlinger.
Monday, August 6, 2001. 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Hall of Ideas G.
The relationship between land ownership and stream condition in the Illinois Landscape.
Brandon, Alice1, Baker, David2, 1 2
ABSTRACT- The Illinois EcoWatch Network is a volunteer monitoring network collecting trend data on the condition of Illinois streams. Volunteers collect samples of aquatic macroinvertebrate taxa to assess stream quality over time. We were interested in whether land ownership significantly affected stream quality and macroinvertebrate diversity. Data were analyzed using over 1,300 stream sites monitored from 1996 to 2000. ANOVA analyses indicated there was a significant difference in stream quality based on ownership when looking at the macroinvertebrate biotic index (MBI), EPT taxa, total taxa richness, and taxa dominance (p < 0.05). Federal sites, in particular, had high taxa richness when compared to local government lands (X = 10.0 and 8.6, respectively; p = 0.002). State and county sites were of intermediate quality, and their condition did not differ greatly from privately owned sites. These differences may reflect a gradient of disturbance connected to stream size and isolation. Urban sites are the most disturbed; rural sites are exposed to an intermediate level of disturbance; federal sites are the least disturbed. These data provide vital information on the condition of the state's watersheds and offer a framework for prioritizing protection efforts at both the local and state level.
KEY WORDS: trends, indicators, volunteers, monitoring