Middle Eel River Initiative: A collaborative approach for ecological studies
Stream Habitats
41 Watersheds 36,000 stream miles 8 digit HUCs Eel River HUC Indiana Watersheds
814 mi 2
Stream Monitoring Water chemistry or Stream habitat? Stream biology? Where and when? How clean is clean?
Connecting critical upland processes with aquatic ecosystems.
Approximate location of Virgin Old- Growth Forest in 1620, 1850, and 1920 Meyer, 1995
Cuyahoga river, 1969
3,000-6,000 square miles
Ecological Impacts: Streams Chemical Physical Biological Temporal Spatial
Can changes be detected?
Middle Eel River Monitoring Three gage sites Six Tributaries
Water Sample Collection Grab Samples Time integrated 15 minute data collection – Water temperature – Stream discharge
Parameters Water Chemistry – Total Suspended Sediment – Total Phosphorus – Nitrate Biological – QHEI – IBI – Mussel survey – E. coli
Upstream Gage 2010
Blocher Site
Mexico Site
Fish and Habitat
Dam Research
Indiana 1,100 dams and most in poor condition 70 % privately owned
North Manchester dam Approximately 3 feet of water
Mean IBI Scores above NM dam Exceptional (50-60) Very Good (49-42) Good (41-34) Fair (33-27) Poor (26-17) Very Poor (<17)
Mean QHEI Scores above NM dam
Liberty Mills Site
Liberty Mills
Indianas aquatic dust bowl
Suspended Sediment
Smallmouth bass Monitoring SMB nests Year Class Strength Growth
Eel River median discharge and SMB nest frequency at North Manchester
SMB nests and TSS
SMB Spine
Wet Fanny Awards
Nates Fish Bruces Fish Ryans Fish
My Fish!
Figure 2. Mean and standard error of group biomass for smallmouth bass (11mm TL) after 4 d and 7 d exposure to bentonite clay suspensions.
Smallmouth Bass Compared to mean Total Suspended Solids in May and June
Blocher Site
Mexico Site
Stream Sediment
Eel River Discharge at North Manchester
Mean (SE) for upstream gage and NM
Number of SMB Nests Compared to Discharge at North Manchester
Eel River TSS vs discharge