Geology topics

J. C. Stauffer

Publications and source records attributed to J. C. Stauffer.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2000

Relationship of wooded riparian zones and runoff potential to fish community composition in agricultural streams

The relationship of fish community composition to riparian cover and runoff potential was investigated in 20 streams in the agricultural Minnesota River Basin during the summer of 1997. Analysis of variance indicated significant differences in fish community composition due to both riparian cover (wooded versus open) and runoff potential (high or low). Streams with wooded riparian zones had higher index of biological integrity (IBI) scores, species richness, diversity, and percentages of benthic insectivores and herbivores than streams with open riparian zones. Streams with low runoff potential had higher IBI scores and species richness than streams with high runoff potential. The riparian cover and runoff potential interaction was marginally significant with respect to IBI scores and species richness, suggesting a weak interaction between the two factors. Although both factors were important, riparian cover influenced fish community composition more than runoff potential in these streams, indicating that local factors (close to the stream) dominated landscape- or basin-level factors.

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences↗

USGS1999

Relation of fish community composition to environmental and land use factors in part of the Upper Mississippi River Basin, 1995-97

Fish communities in the Upper Mississippi River Basin have been affected by changing environmental and land-use factors. Fish communities in small streams in agricultural and urban basins were compared to the fish community in a relatively undisturbed forested basin. In small streams, nutrient inputs from fertilizer, habitat modification from channelization, hydrologic modification from dams and tile drains, and increased water temperatures from loss of riparian shading have contributed to producing a change in fish community composition. In the large rivers, some of the changes that have occurred from sites upstream to downstream of the Twin Cities metropolitan area are primarily caused by the environmental effects of dams constructed as part of the lock and dam commercial navigation system. Although some of the differences upstream and downstream of the Twin Cities metropolitan area are due to zoogeographic variability, the major changes in the downstream community are shifts to more lentic species, species with higher thermal tolerance, and more planktivorous species. These changes are an extension of the changes observed in the small streams due to increased nutrients, increased water temperatures, and habitat alteration.

Minnesota↗

USGS1997

Comparison of three qualitative habitat indices and their applicability to prairie streams

Qualitative stream habitat indices are important tools in classifying, interpreting, and assessing the conditions of stream ecosystems. Habitat indices are numerical values produced from scoring various features of a stream. Three commonly used habitat indices are the qualitative habitat evaluation index (QHEI), the rapid bioassessment protocols (RBP), and the riparian, channel, and environmental inventory (RCE). All three indices were used to assess the habitat conditions of 18 prairie streams of different sizes and environmental settings in the Red River of the North basin. Correlations suggest that these three indices provide similar results (r ranged from 0.83 to 0.85, P ≤ 0.003); however, the indices emphasize different aspects of the stream environment. Metrics from each index were classified as one of the following: channel geomorphology, riparian zone, substrate related, and instream cover and biota. The QHEI and RBP indices emphasize channel geomorphology metrics (41% of total score for the QHEI and 42% of the total score for the RBP). The RCE had a more balanced emphasis among the four classes but emphasized riparianzone metrics (32% of total score). There is redundancy within indices. Several metrics showed high correlations (e.g., r = 0.74 for land use and riparian-zone width in QHEI; r = 0.86 for bank vegetative protection and bank condition in RBP; r = 0.83 for macrobenthos and fish in RCE). To evaluate biological applicability, index scores were correlated to scores of the index of biotic integrity and fish community statistics of species richness, evenness, diversity, and percent of individuals in four trophic groups. No significant correlations were identified. We concluded that the metrics making up the habitat indices were either not applicable or not weighted appropriately for northern prairie streams.

North American Journal of Fisheries Management↗

USGS1996

Relation of physical and chemical characteristics of streams to fish communities in the Red River of the North basin, Minnesota and North Dakota, 1993-95

Fish community composition was determined at 33 reaches (average length 150 meters) at 22 sites in the Red River of the North Basin during 1994. Sites were selected to represent a range of stream sizes and ecoregions within the basin. Physical and chemical characteristics (classified in data sets of instream habitat, terrestrial habitat, hydrology, and water quality) were determined for various sites for periods ranging from two to 48 years. Instream habitat measurements were made from 1993 through 1995 for 31 reaches at 19 sites. Terrestrial habitat measures of land use/land cover, soils, and riparian zones were determined from a geographical information system coverage for 23 reaches at 14 sites. The geographical information system coverage used data from aerial photographs taken from 1990 and 1991, National Wetlands Inventory data, soils maps from the Natural Resource Conservation Service, and data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture soils data base. Water chemistry data were collected from 14 sites in the basin from 1993 through 1994. Hydrologic variability was determined from U.S. Geological Survey gaging records. Correlation analysis, cluster analysis, and principal components analysis were used to determine representative variables which accounted for the most variation in each data set. The representative variables and the fish community data were analyzed with canonical correspondence analysis to determine the relative effect of each source of environmental influence on fish community composition. Instream habitat, terrestrial habitat, and hydrologic variability were analyzed together. Water chemistry data were analyzed separately due to a lack of corresponding sites. Within the instream habitat data set, measures of habitat volume (channel width and depth) and habitat diversity were most significant in explaining the variability of the fish communities. The amount of nonagricultural land and riparian zone integrity from the terrestrial habitat data set were also useful in explaining fish community composition. Variability of mean monthly discharge and the frequency of high and low discharge events during the three years prior to fish sampling were the most influential of the hydrologic variables.The first two axes of the canonical correspondence analysis accounted for 43.3 percent of the variation in the fish community and 52.5 percent of the variation in the environmental-species relation. Water-quality indicators such as the percent of fine material in suspended sediment, minimum dissolved oxygen concentrations, minimum concentrations of dissolved organic carbon, and the range of concentrations of major ions and nutrients were the variables that were most important in the canonical correspondence analysis of water-quality data with fish. No single environmental variable or data set appeared to be more important than another in explaining variation in the fish community. The environmental factors affecting the fish communities of the Red River of the North are interrelated. For the most part, instream environmental conditions (instream habitat, hydrology, and water chemistry) appear to be more important in explaining variability in fish community composition than factors related to the agricultural nature of the basin.

Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota↗