PARENT SESSION
Tuesday, August 8, 5:00-6:30 pm
Poster Session 8 - Aquatic ecology
Exhibit Hall, Ballroom Level, Cook Convention Center
Reference site characterization for ecological monitoring in the Great Egg Harbor River, New Jersey.
Cromartie, William*,1, Keltos, Lauren1, Dwyer, Amy1, Mott, Karl1, Akers, Fred2, Chirenje, Tait1, 1 Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Pomona, NJ2 Great Egg Harbor Watershed Association, Newtonville, NJ
ABSTRACT- The Great Egg Harbor River, in Atlantic County NJ is a low gradient, acid-water river system, located largely within the Pinelands National Reserve. Stockton College faculty and students have been working with the Great Egg Harbor Watershed Association on a study of Gravelly Run, a stream which may be among the least disturbed Hydrologic Unit Code14-digit (HUC-14) watersheds in the GEHR basin. The chemical, physical and biological characteristics of several sites along Gravelly Run were studied in 2005-06. The first year results indicate this watershed is suitable as a reference site for pH, specific conductance, heavy metals, snag-dwelling macroinvertebrates and hydrologic flow regime. We are continuing to assess additional parameters and extend the monitoring program to more impacted HUC-14 watersheds. Gravelly Run compares favorably with reference sites in the adjacent HUC-14 unit we studied from 2003-2005. Our result supports the utility of macroinvertebrates on woody debris as a target for biological assessment of low-gradient coastal plain streams.
Key words: coastal plain streams, aquatic ecology, biological monitoring