Beyond the urban gradient: Barriers and opportunities for timely studies of urbanization effects on aquatic ecosystems

Journal of the North American Benthological Society

Volumn 28, Issue 4, 2009, Pages 1038-1050

  Carter, Timothy ^a   Jackson, C Rhett ^b   Rosemond, Amy ^b   Pringle, Cathy ^b   Radcliffe, David ^b   Tollner, William ^c   Maerz, John ^b   Leigh, David ^b   Trice, Amy ^b  

^a BUTLER UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA   (United States)

^c University of Georgia   (United States)

Author keywords

Development; Environmental gradient; Experimental design; Impacts; Paired watershed; Urban stream; Urbanization

Indexed keywords

BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICE; ECOLOGICAL IMPACT; ECOSYSTEM HEALTH; ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION; ENVIRONMENTAL GRADIENT; EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN; FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEM; HYDROLOGICAL RESPONSE; LAND COVER; STREAM; URBANIZATION; WATERSHED;

ETOWAH BASIN; GEORGIA; NORTH AMERICA; UNITED STATES;

EID: 70450185568     PISSN: 08873593     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1899/08-169.1     Document Type: Article

References (83)

1. ALBERTI, M. 2008. Advances in urban ecology: integrating humans and ecological processes in urban ecosystems. Springer, New York.
2. ALLAN, J. D. 2004. Landscapes and riverscapes: the influence of land use on stream ecosystems. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 35:257-284.
3. ANDERSON, B. C., W. E. WATT, AND J. MARSALEK. 2002. Critical issues for stormwater ponds: learning from a decade of research. Water Science and Technology 45:277-283.
4. ARTHUR, M. A., G. B. COLTHARP, AND D. L. BROWN. 1998. Effects of best management practices on forest streamwater quality in eastern Kentucky. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 34:481-495.
5. BAKKER, J. P., H. OLFF, J. H.WILLEMS, AND M. ZOBEL. 1996. Why do we need permanent plots in the study of long-term vegetation dynamics? Journal of Vegetation Science 7: 147-156.
6. BARRETT, M. E. 2005. Performance comparison of structural stormwater best management practices. Water Environment Research 77:78-86.
7. BATES, C., AND J. HENRY. 1928. Forest and streamflow experiment at Wagon Wheel Gap, Colorado. US Weather Bureau Monthly Weather Review, supplement 30.
8. BATTY, M. 2008. The size, scale, and shape of cities. Science 319:769-771.
9. BENEDETTI-CECCHI, L. 2001. Beyond BACI: optimization of environmental sampling designs through monitoring and simulation. Ecological Applications 11:783-799.
10. BERNHARDT, E., L. BAND, C. WALSH, AND P. BERKE. 2008. Understanding, managing, and minimizing urban impacts on surface water nitrogen loading. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1134:61-96.
11. BETTENCOURT, L., J. LOBO, D. HELBING, C. KUHNERT, AND G. WEST. 2007. Growth innovation, scaling, and the pace of life in cities. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America 104:7301-7306.
12. BOOTH, D. B., D. HARTLEY, AND R. JACKSON. 2002. Forest cover, impervious-surface area, and mitigation of stormwater impacts. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 38:835-845.
13. BROWN, G. W., AND J. T. KRYGIER. 1970. Effects of clear-cutting on stream temperature. Water Resources Research 6: 1133-1139.
14. BROWN, L. R., T. CUFFNEY, J. F. COLES, F. FITZPATRICK, G. MCMAHON, J. STEUER, A. H. BELL, AND J. T. MAY. 2009. Urban streams across the US: lessons learned from studies in 9 metropolitan areas. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 28:1051-1069.
15. CADENASSO, M. L., S. T. A. PICKETT, AND K. SCHWARZ. 2007. Spatial heterogeneity in urban ecosystems: reconceptualizing land cover and a framework for classification. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 5:80-88.
16. CARTER, T. L., AND T. C. RASMUSSEN. 2006. Hydrologic behavior of vegetated roofs. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 42:1261-1274.
17. CATFORD, J. A., C. J. WALSH, AND J. BEARDALL. 2007. Catchment urbanization increases benthic microalgal biomass in streams under controlled light conditions. Aquatic Sciences 69:511-522.
18. CHADWICK, M. A., D. R. DOBBERFUHL, A. C. BENKE, A. D. HURYN, K. SUBERKROPP, AND J. E. THIELE. 2006. Urbanization affects stream ecosystem function by altering hydrology, chemistry, and biotic richness. Ecological Applications 16:1796-1807.
19. CHEN, C. N., C. H. TSAI, AND C. T. TSAI. 2007. Reduction of discharge hydrograph and flood stage resulted from upstream detention ponds. Hydrological Processes 21: 3492-3506.
20. COWLES, H. C. 1899. The ecological relations of the vegetation on the sand dunes of Lake Michigan. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois.
21. CWP (CENTER FOR WATERSHED PROTECTION). 2003. Impacts of impervious cover on aquatic systems. Watershed Protection Research Monograph Number 1. Center for Watershed Protection, Ellicott City, Maryland. (Available from http://www.cwp.org/)
22. DIETZ, M. E., AND J. C. CLAUSEN. 2008. Stormwater runoff and export changes with development in a traditional and low impact subdivision. Journal of Environmental Management 87:560-566.
23. DREELIN, E. A., L. FOWLER, AND C. CARROLL. 2006. A test of porous pavement effectiveness on clay soils during natural storm events. Water Research 40:799-805.
24. EMERSON, C. H., C. WELTY, AND R. G. TRAVER. 2005. Watershed-scale evaluation of a system of storm water detention basins. Journal of Hydrologic Engineering 10: 237-242.
25. FOSTER, B. L., AND D. TILMAN. 2000. Dynamic and static views of succession: testing the descriptive power of the chronosequence approach. Plant Ecology 146:1-10.
26. FROEHLICH, H. 1973. Natural and man-caused slash in headwater streams. Logger's Handbook. Pacific Logging Congress, Portland, Oregon.
27. GODDARD, M. A., C. J. POST, W. R. ENGLISH, AND J. W. PIKE. 2008. Examining the impacts of changing land use on biological integrity in streams using Geographical Information Systems and statistical modeling. Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 11:230-242.
28. GREGORY, S. V., J. S. SCHWARTZ, J. D. HALL, R. C. WILDMAN, AND P. A. BISSON. 2008. Long-term trends in habitat and fish populations in the Alsea Basin. Pages 237-258 in J. D. Stednick (editor). Hydrological and biological responses to forest practices. Ecological studies. Volume 199. Springer, New York.
29. GRIMM, N., S. FAETH, N.GOLUBIEWSKI, C. REDMAN, J.WU, X. BAI, AND J. BRIGGS. 2008. Global change and the ecology of cities. Science 319:756-760.
30. HARTLEY, D. M., AND D. E. FUNKE. 2001. Techniques for detecting hydrologic change in high resource streams. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 37:1589-1595.
31. HATT, B. E., T. D. FLETCHER, C. J. WALSH, AND S. L. TAYLOR. 2004. The influence of urban density and drainage infrastructure on the concentrations and loads of pollutants in small streams. Environmental Management 34:112-124.
32. HEATHERLY, T., M. R. WHILES, T. V. ROYER, AND M. B. DAVID. 2007. Relationships between water quality, habitat quality, and macroinvertebrate assemblages in Illinois streams. Journal of Environmental Quality 36: 1653-1660.
33. HELMS, B. S., J. E. SCHOONOVER, AND J. W. FEMINELLA. 2009. Seasonal variability of landuse impacts on macroinvertebrate assemblages in streams of western Georgia, USA. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 28:991-1006.
34. HEWLETT, J. D., H. W. LULL, AND K. G. REINHART. 1969. In defense of experimental watersheds. Water Resources Research 5:306-316.
35. HEWLETT, J. D., AND J. C. FORTSON. 1982. Stream temperature under an inadequate buffer strip in the southeast piedmont. Water Resources Bulletin 18:983-988.
36. HORNBECK, J. W., C. W. MARTIN, AND C. EAGAR. 1997. Summary of water yield experiments at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, New Hampshire. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 27:2043-2052.
37. HORNER, R., C. MAY, E. LIVINGSTON, D. BLAHA, M. SCOGGINS, J. TIMS, AND J. MAXTED. 2001. Structural and non-structural BMPs for protecting streams. Pages 60-77 in B. Urbonas (editor). Linking stormwater BMP designs and performance to receiving water impact mitigation. Proceedings of an Engineering Research Foundation Conference. American Society of Civil Engineers, Reston, Virginia.
38. HORWITZ, R. J., T. E. JOHNSON, P. F. OVERBECK, T. K. O'DONNELL, W. C. HESSION, AND B. W. SWEENEY. 2008. Effects of riparian vegetation and watershed urbanization on fishes in streams of the mid-Atlantic Piedmont (USA). Journal of the American Water Resources Association 44:724-741.
39. HOSSAIN, M. A., M. ALUM, D. R. YONGE, AND P. DUTTA. 2005. Efficiency and flow regime of a highway stormwater detention pond in Washington, USA. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 164:79-89.
40. HOTTENROTH, D., C. HARPER, AND J. TURNER. 1999. Effectiveness of integrated stormwater management in a Portland, Oregon, watershed. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 35:633-641.
41. IMBERGER, S. J., C. J. WALSH, AND M. R. GRACE. 2008. More microbial activity, not abrasive flow or shredder abundance, accelerates breakdown of labile leaf litter in urban streams. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 27:549-561.
42. JOHNES, P. J. 2007. Uncertainties in annual riverine phosphorus load estimation: impact of load estimation methodology, sampling frequency, baseflow index and catchment population density. Journal of Hydrology 332: 241-258.
43. KAUSHAL, S. S., P. M. GROFFMAN, P.M. MAYER, E. STRIZ, AND A. J. GOLD. 2008. Effects of stream restoration on denitrification in an urbanizing watershed. Ecological Applications 18:789-804.
44. LEWIS, J., S. R. MORI, E. T. KEPPELER, AND R. R. ZIEMER. 2001. Impacts of logging on storm peak flows, flow volumes and suspended sediment loads in Caspar Creek, California. Pages 85-125 in M. S. Wigmosta and S. J. Burges (editors). Land use and watersheds: human influences on hydrology and geomorphology in urban and forest areas. Water science and application. Volume 2. American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC.
45. LIEBERMAN, J. A., AND M. D. HOOVER. 1948. The effect of uncontrolled logging on stream turbidity. Water Sewage Works 95:255-258.
46. LLOYD, S. D., T. H. F. WONG, AND C. J. CHESTERFIELD. 2002. Water sensitive urban design - a stormwater management perspective. Industry Report 02/10. Cooperative Research Centre for Catchment Hydrology, Melbourne, Australia. (Available from: http://www.catchment.crc. org.au/pdfs/ industry200210.pdf)
47. LOHSE, K., D. NEWBURN, J. OPPERMAN, AND A. MERENLENDER. 2008. Forecasting relative impacts of land use on anadromous fish habitat to guide conservation planning. Ecological Applications 18:467-482.
48. LUSSIER, S. M., S. N. DA S ILVA, M. CHARPENTIER, J. F.HELTSHE, S. M. CORMIER, D. J. KLEMM, M. CHINTALA, AND S. JAYARAMAN. 2008. The influence of suburban land use on habitat and biotic integrity of coastal Rhode Island streams. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 139:119-136.
49. MATZEN, D. A., AND H. B. BERGE. 2008. Assessing smallstream biotic integrity using fish assemblages across an urban landscape in the Puget Sound lowlands of Western Washington. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 137:677-689.
50. MAXTED, J. R., AND E. SHAVER. 1997. The use of retention basins to mitigate stormwater impacts on aquatic life. Pages 494-512 in L. A. Roesner (editor). Effects of watershed development and management on aquatic ecosystems. American Society of Civil Engineers, Reston, Virginia.
51. MCCUEN, R. H. 1979. Downstream effects of stormwater management basins. Journal of the Hydraulics Division - American Society of Civil Engineers 105:1343-1356.
52. MOGLEN, G., AND S. KIM. 2007. Limiting imperviousness. Journal of the American Planning Association 73: 161-171.
53. PAUL, M., AND J. MEYER. 2001. Streams in the urban landscape. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 32:333-365.
54. PICKETT, S. T. A. 1989. Space-for-time substitution as an alternative to long-term studies. Pages 110-135 in G. Likens (editor). Long-term studies in ecology: approaches and alternatives. Springer, New York.
55. POFF, N. L., B. P. BLEDSOE, AND C. O. CUHACIYAN. 2006. Hydrologic variation with land use across the contiguous United States: geomorphic and ecological consequences for stream ecosystems. Geomorphology 79: 264-285.
56. ROY, A. H., H. CABEZAS, M. P. CLAGETT, N. T.HOAGLAND, A. L. MAYER, M. A. MORRISON, W. D. SHUSTER, J. J. TEMPLETON, AND H. W. THURSTON. 2006. Retrofit stormwater management: navigating multidisciplinary hurdles at the watershed scale. Stormwater 7:16-29.
57. ROY, A. H., B. J. FREEMAN, AND M. C. FREEMAN. 2007. Riparian influences on stream fish assemblage structure in urbanizing streams. Landscape Ecology 22:385-402.
58. SCHIFF, R., AND G. BENOIT. 2007. Effects of impervious cover at multiple spatial scales on coastal watershed streams. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 43:712-730.
59. SCHOONOVER, J., B. LOCKABY, AND B. HELMS. 2006. Impacts of land cover on stream hydrology in the West Georgia Piedmont, USA. Journal of Environmental Quality 35: 2123-2131.
60. SCOTT, M. C. 2006. Winners and losers among stream fishes in relation to land use legacies and urban development in the southeastern U.S. Biological Conservation 127: 301-309.
61. SELBIG, W. R., AND R. T. BANNERMAN. 2008. A comparison of runoff quantity and quality from two small basins undergoing implementation of conventional- and lowimpact- development (LID) strategies: Cross Plains, Wisconsin, water years 1999-2005. U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5008. US Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia.
62. SHANDAS, V., AND M. ALBERTI. 2009. Exploring the role of vegetation fragmentation on aquatic conditions: linking upland with riparian areas in Puget Sound lowland streams. Landscape and Urban Planning 90: 66-75.
63. SHIELDS, C., L. BAND, N. LAW, P. GROFFMAN, S. KAUSHAL, K. SAVVAS, G. FISHER, AND K. BELT. 2008. Streamflow distribution of non-point source nitrogen export from urban-rural catchments in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Water Resources Research 44:1-13.
64. STEPENUCK, K. F., R. L. CRUNKILTON, M. A. BOZEK, AND L. WANG. 2008. Comparison of macroinvertebrate-derived stream quality metrics between snag and riffle habitats. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 44:670-678.
65. SWANK, W. T., J. M. VOSE, AND K. J. ELLIOTT. 2001. Long-term hydrologic and water quality response following commercial clearcutting of mixed hardwoods on a southern Appalachian catchment. Forest Ecology and Management 143:163-178.
66. THURSTON, H. W., M. A. TAYLOR, A. ROY, M.MORRISON, W. D. SHUSTER, J. TEMPLETON, M. CLAGETT, AND H. CABEZAS. 2008. Applying a reverse auction to reduce stormwater runoff. Ambio 37:326-327.
67. TRIMBLE, S. W. 1974. Man-induced soil erosion of the southern Piedmont, 1700-1970. Soil and Water Conservation Society, Ankeny, Iowa.
68. UNDERWOOD, A. J. 1994. On beyond BACI: sampling designs that might reliably detect environmental disturbances. Ecological Applications 4:4-15.
69. UN (UNITED NATIONS). 2007. World population prospects: the 2006 revision and world urbanization prospects: the 2007 revision. Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, United Nations, New York.
70. VITOUSEK, P., H. MOONEY, J. LUBCHENCO, AND J. MELILLO. 1997. Human domination of Earth's ecosystems. Science 277: 494-499.
71. WALSH, C. J., T. D. FLETCHER, AND A. R. LADSON. 2005a. Stream restoration in urban catchments through redesigning stormwater systems: looking to the catchment to save the stream. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 24:690-705.
72. WALSH, C. J., T. D. FLETCHER, AND A. R. LADSON. 2009. Retention capacity: a metric to link stream ecology and stormwater management. Journal of Hydrologic Engineering 14:399-406.
73. WALSH, C. J., AND J. KUNAPO. 2009. The importance of upland flow paths in determining urban effects on stream ecosystems. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 28:977-990.
74. WALSH, C. J., P. J. PAPAS, D. CROWTHER, P. T. SIM, AND J. YOO. 2004. Stormwater drainage pipes as a threat to a streamdwelling amphipod of conservation significance, Austrogammarus australis, in southeastern Australia. Biodiversity and Conservation 13:781-793.
75. WALSH, C. J., A. H. ROY, J.W. FEMINELLA, P.D. COTTINGHAM, P. M. GROFFMAN, AND R. P. MORGAN. 2005b. The urban stream syndrome: current knowledge and the search for a cure. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 24:706-723.
76. WALSH, C. J., K. A. WALLER, J. GEHLING, AND R. MAC NALLY. 2007. Riverine invertebrate assemblages are degraded more by catchment urbanization than by riparian deforestation. Freshwater Biology 52:574-587.
77. WALTER, R. C., AND D. J. MERRITTS. 2008. Natural streams and the legacy of water-powered mills. Science 319:299-304.
78. WANG, L., J. LYONS, AND P. KANEHL. 2001. Impacts of urbanization on stream habitat and fish across multiple spatial scales. Environmental Management 28:255-266.
79. WEBB, J. A., AND E. L. KING. 2009. A Bayesian hierarchical trend analysis finds strong evidence for large-scale temporal declines in stream ecological condition around Melbourne, Australia. Ecography 32:215-225.
80. WENGER, S. J., A. H. ROY, C. R. JACKSON, E. S. BERNHARDT, T. L. CARTER, S. FILOSO, C. A. GIBSON, W. C. HESSION, S. S. KAUSHAL, E. MARTÍ, J. L. MEYER, M. A. PALMER, M. J. PAUL, A. H. PURCELL, A. RAMIREZ, A. D. ROSEMOND, K. A. SCHOFIELD, E. B. SUDDUTH, AND C. J. WALSH. 2009. Twentysix key research questions in urban stream ecology: an assessment of the state of the science. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 28:1080-1098.
81. WICKHAM, J. D., T. G. WADE, AND K. H. RIITTERS. 2008. Detecting temporal change in watershed nutrient yields. Environmental Management 42:223-231.
82. WOLMAN, M. G. 1967. A cycle of sedimentation and erosion in urban river channels. Geografiska Annaler 49: 385-395.
83. WYNN, T. M., S. MOSTAGHIMI, J. W. FRAZEE, P.W.MCCLELLAN, R. M. SHAFER, AND W. M. AUST. 2000. Effects of forest harvesting best management practices on surface water quality in the Virginia coastal plain. Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers 43: 927-936.