Oswegatchie- -Black Stream Survey Black Stream Survey Oswegatchie - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Oswegatchie- -Black Stream Survey Black Stream Survey Oswegatchie 2003- -2005 2005 2003

Assessments of Adirondack Surface Water Chemistry Primary focus on lakes since 1980’s. ™ Primary focus on lakes since 1980’s. ™ Lakes serve as the index of acid rain effects. ™ Lakes serve as the index of acid rain effects. ™

Lakes ≠ Streams Lakes ≠ Streams • Important habitat. Important habitat. • • Reflect terrestrial ecosystem. Reflect terrestrial ecosystem. • • More prone to acidify than lakes. More prone to acidify than lakes. •

Stream Chemistry as an Ecosystem Stream Chemistry as an Ecosystem Index of Acid Rain Effects Index of Acid Rain Effects 1. Integrates spatial variability of watershed processes. 1. Integrates spatial variability of watershed processes. 2. Within stream processes don’t overwhelm the Within stream processes don’t overwhelm the 2. signal. signal. 3. Link between terrestrial and lake Link between terrestrial and lake ecosystems. ecosystems. 3. 4. Sensitive indicator, straightforward to measure. Sensitive indicator, straightforward to measure. 4.

Project Investigators • Greg Lawrence , U.S. Geological Survey • Karen Roy, Sue Capone, NYS DEC/Adirondack Lake Survey Corporation • Howard Simonin , NYS DEC, Fish, Wildlife and Marine Res. • Barry Baldigo , U.S. Geological Survey • Sophia Passy , University of Texas at Arlington • Robert Bode et al., NYS DEC Stream Biomonitoring Unit

Adirondack Effects Assessment Program (AEAP) Colloborators • Sandra Nierzwicki-Bauer, Chuck Boylen , Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY • Jim Sutherland, Bob Bombard – New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation.

Project Tasks Project Tasks 1. 200-stream survey to assess acidification. 2. Macro-invertebrate sampling in 40 streams 3. Re-sampling of sites sampled in 1980’s. 4. Soil sampling of 12 watersheds 5. Periphytic diatom sampling, all streams.

Sampling Challenges Sampling Challenges • Flow variations Flow variations – – collection in 3 days. collection in 3 days. • • Accessibility Accessibility – – sample 200 of 565 accessible sample 200 of 565 accessible • sites. sites. • Effects of lakes Effects of lakes – – exclude streams with exclude streams with • upstream lakes and ponds with > 25% upstream lakes and ponds with > 25% influence. influence.

Cranberry Lake Buck Creek Old Forge

Assessment Challenges • Distinguishing between natural acidity and pollution-derived acidity. • Characterizing longitudinal variability

Buck Creek: USGS RPI-AEAP NYSDEC Stream Gages

150 North Tributary Buck Creek 100 Acid 50 Neutralizing 0 Capacity ANC (meq L-1) -50 (ANC) -100 South Tributary Buck Creek 100 Acid Rain 50 Effects? 0 -50 -100 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 Flow (log10(L sec-1))

Base Cation Surplus (Ca + Mg + Na + K) – (SO 4 + NO 3 + Cl) Base Cations – Acid Anions BC – AA

The Fundamental Problem: Mobilization of Inorganic Aluminum

North Tributary 15 x intercept = 81 10 5 ) Inorganic Al ( µ mol L -1 0 South Tributary 15 x intercept = 50 10 5 0 Extensive Streams 15 x intercept = 54 10 5 0 -100 0 100 200 300 BC-AA ( µ eq L -1 )

Longitudinal Variations in Stream Chemistry 100 50 ) Base Cation Surplus ( µ mol L -1 0 -50 -100 200 150 100 50 0 0 1 2 3 4 Longitudinal Distance (km)

March 2004 120 0 100 0 80 0 Flow (L sec-1) 60 0 40 0 20 0 0 /04 3/1/04 3/8/04 3/15/04 3/22/04 3/29/04 4/5/04 2/23

Buck Creek 12 ) Inorganic Al ( µ mol L -1 10 8 6 Sampling Days 4 2 March 26 -April 4 2004 0 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 Flow (log L sec-1)

Results from Buck Creek Results from Buck Creek • March 2004 March 2004 - sampling near peak acidity . • - sampling near peak acidity • Brook Trout Fingerlings Brook Trout Fingerlings - - 9 • 9 0% Mortality 0% Mortality with median Al of 6.0 µ µ M for 10 days. with median Al of 6.0 M for 10 days.

October 2003 1200 1000 Flow (L sec-1) 800 600 400 200 0 22/03 29/03 /6/03 13/03 20/03 27/03 /3/03 10 11 9/ 9/ 10/ 10/ 10/

Sampling Variations Sampling Variations Date Site Coef Coef. of Variation (ANC) Date Site . of Variation (ANC) Oct03 28004 59.0 % Oct03 28004 59.0 % Oct03 6020 7.3 % Oct03 6020 7.3 % Oct03 29008 12.3 % Oct03 29008 12.3 % Mar04 7024 5.8 % Mar04 7024 5.8 % Mar04 28630 15.0 % Mar04 28630 15.0 % Mar04 29008 6.6 % Mar04 29008 6.6 %

Preliminary Results Preliminary Results Inorganic Al ANC pH Inorganic Al ANC pH Threshold 2.0 µ M 50 µ eq L L - -1 6.0 1 Threshold 2.0 µ M 50 µ eq 6.0 October 03 54% 66% 64% October 03 54% 66% 64% March 04 04 45% 70% 64% March 45% 70% 64% *Thresholds from Driscoll et al. (Bioscience, 2001) *Thresholds from Driscoll et al. (Bioscience, 2001)

Stream Length Assessment • Total stream length in study region = 4,322 km. • Total accessable stream length = 1,237 km (28%). • Total stream length sampled = 434 km (10%). • Total stream length acidified, March 04 = 557 km. • Total stream length not assessed = 3085 km.

Stream Macroinvertebrate Relations 10 Macroinvertebrate Acid Index 8 6 4 2 R=0.65 0 -100 0 100 200 300 400 Base Cations - Acid Anions ( µ mol L -1 )

Stream Macroinvertebrate Relations 10 Macroinvertebrate Acid Index p < 0.01 R 2 =0.53 8 6 4 2 0 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 Inorganic Al ( µ mol L -1 )

Independence River 7.5 p < 0.05 7.0 6.5 pH 6.0 1980-82 5.5 2003-05 R 2 = 0.65 5.0 R 2 = 0.93 4.5 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 -1 ) Flow (log 10 m sec

Soil-Stream Chemistry Relationship Base Cations - Acid Anions ( µ eq L-1) 300 Upper B Horizon 200 100 0 -100 p < 0.01 R2 = 0.42 -200 0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 Base Saturation

Soil-Stream Chemistry Relationship Base Cations - Acid Anions ( µ eq L-1) 300 Oa Horizon 200 100 0 -100 p < 0.01 R2 = 0.68 -200 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 Base Saturation

CONCLUSIONS • Data analyses are ongoing. • Stream acidification still with us. • Macroinvertebrate community structure strongly tied to stream chemistry. • Soil chemistry is strongly related to high flow stream chemistry.