“Habitat Assessment Using the QHEI “ Edward T. Rankin June 6

1. “Habitat Assessment Using the QHEI “ Edward T. Rankin June 6 City of Columbus, Level 3 Training Course Columbus, Ohio Senior ResearchScientist QHEI@aol.com

2. QHEI Training • Qualitative • Habitat • Evaluation • Index

3. The Five Major Factors Which Determine the Integrity of Aquatic Resources (from Karr 1981) Alkalinity Velocity Solubilities Temperature High/Low D.O. Land Use Extremes Adsorption pH Flow Chemical Nutrients Regime Variables Turbidity Ground Precipitation & Water Organics Runoff Hardness INTEGRITY OF THE WATER RESOURCE Disease Parasitism Reproduction Biotic Factors Competition Feeding Predation “Principal Goal of the Clean Water Act Nutrients Riparian Energy Sunlight Width/Depth Vegetation Seasonal Source Bank Stability Cycles Habitat Channel Siltation Organic Matter Morphology Structure o o Inputs 1 and 2 Sinuosity Production Gradient Current Instream Substrate Cover Canopy

4. QHEI • Visual Method • Tool For Designating Aquatic Life Uses • Tool For Assessing Causes of Impairment • Correlated With Biological Integrity • Associated With Sediment/Nutrient Inputs • Effects on Biota Occur At Multiple Scales • Matches Resolution of Biological Data

5. QHEI: Six Major Categories of Macrohabitat • Substrate – Size, Quality • Instream Cover – Type, Quality, Amount • Channel Quality – Sinuosity, Riffle/Pool Development, Channelization, Stability • Riparian Width, Type, Bank Stability • Pool, Riffle/Run – Depth, Morphology, Current Types, Riffle/Run Substrates • Stream Gradient – Standardized by Stream Size

6. Assessing Reach Habitat Features

7. Level 2 vs. Level 3 QHEI Certification • Level 2 • This training and site scored independently at last site tomorrow • Sufficient similarity with Instructor Score • Level 3 • This training and site scored independently (Level II site above) • Three sites scored outside of this training • Sufficient similarity with all test sites

8. Stream Flow • Not explicitly measured in QHEI • Reflected in certain metrics • Can be limiting to aquatic life in many instances • Consider flow regime when interpreting data

9. Correlated With IBI • QHEI and its subcomponents correlated with IBI at multiple scales

10. Another Way to Examine Correlation of QHEI with IBI: Probability of Attaining Biocriteria

11. Level III-IV Ecoregions

12. LEVEL III ECOREGIONS OF OHIO LEVEL III ECOREGIONS OF OHIO (after Omernik 1987) (after Omernik 1987) EOLP EOLP HELP HELP ECBP ECBP WAP WAP IP IP

13. Structural features include the numerous components of habitat that include living and non- living attributes. Parent geology and climatic influences are two factors that influence structural attributes..

15. Riffle • areas of the stream with fast current velocity and shallow depth; • the water surface is visibly broken by rocks, boulders, etc. • Functions: • High production zone for macroinvertebrates • Spawning area for many sensitive species • Feeding area for species groups such as darters • Oxygenation

16. Run • areas of the stream that have a rapid, non-turbulent flow; • runs are deeper than riffles with faster current velocity than pools; • generally located down-stream from riffles where the stream narrows; • the stream bed is often flat beneath a run and the water surface is not visibly broken. • Functions: • Spawning Area • Feeding Area • Oxygenation • Macroinvertebrate Production

17. Pool • Functions: • Low Flow Refugia • Nursery Area • Resting Area • Cover an area of the stream with slow current velocity; depth greater than riffle and run areas; the stream bed is often concave; stream width frequently is the greatest; the water surface slope is nearly zero.

18. Glide • Flat, “canal-like” flow • Shallow, generally poor habitat • Transitional in natural streams • Can be predominant in channelized and altered streams • Functions: • - Shallow nursery areas • - Invertebrate production

21. Strong Link Between Channel Score and Substrate Score Fine substrates (e.g., silts) source of attached phosphorus. Improved channel form will result in higher channel score, higher substrate scores and less nutrients stored in wetted channel Storm events will re-suspend less nutrients in stream with intact channels than with modified channels May use pebble count data and sediment nutrient concentration from sediment chemical data to create “hypothetical” loads with various habitat types QUESTION: How much channel improvement (e.g., full restoration vs. two-stage channel) is needed to significantly reduce nutrients?

22. http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/monitoring/rbp/

23. Other Methods: • Illinois SHAP • U.S. EPA EMAP/NWS Assessment Methods • RBP Habitat Form • Other State Methods (e.g., quantitative and qualitative) • QHEI has been modified for other environment and systems (e.g., HHEI, Lake Erie Shoreline, etc)

25. Remember • Goal is to explain variation we observe in aquatic biology • What is relative contribution of habitat condition to observed biology? • What are the factors limiting the biology? • When in doubt about meaning of metric • Refer to reference materials • Think FUNCTIONALLY! What is hypothetical link between metric and biology (Think like a fish!)