Thursday, May 21, 2009: 1:30 PM-3:15 PM
Ambassador West
Special Session - Measures of Stream Ecosystem Function: An Applied Perspective I
Assessments of stream health have traditionally focused on measures of ecosystem structure such as water chemistry, physical habitat, and composition of biological assemblages. Yet maintenance of stream ecosystem function is a clear goal of the Clean Water Act and functional measures are necessary for appropriate assessment and mitigation efforts. Measures of function are used to quantify ecosystem processes including energy flow and rates of material cycling. Functional measures have, however, been largely ignored for stream assessments because they are perceived to be more time and labor intensive than structural measures. Though there has been an assumption in the regulatory community that ecosystem structure adequately reflects function, limited research suggests otherwise. This special session focuses on use of functional measures for stream assessment and the challenges faced in their widespread application.
Moderators:Brent Johnson
Ken M. Fritz
1:30 PM584Stream ecosystem functions and the national ambient air quality standard review for NOx and SOx
Paul Wagner, Tara Greaver, Jeff Arnold
1:45 PM585Estimating benthic secondary production from aquatic insect emergence in streams affected by mountaintop removal coal mining, West Virginia, USA
Brent Johnson, Ken M. Fritz, Rachel Price
2:00 PM586Sediment and epilithon metabolism and hydrolytic activity in streams affected by mountaintop removal coal mining, West Virginia, USA
Ken M. Fritz, Brent Johnson, Rachel Price
2:15 PM587Mountaintop removal/valley fill coal mining reduces in-stream retention of ammonium
Eric R. Sokol, Jackson R. Webster, E. F. Benfield, Bobbie Niederlehner
2:30 PM588Effects of mountain top removal/valley fill on litter breakdown in central Appalachian streams
Corrie F. Maxwell, E. F. Benfield, Eric R. Sokol, H. Maurice Valett, Jackson R. Webster
2:45 PM589Leaf breakdown in streams receiving coal mine drainage in central Pennsylvania
Matthew E. McTammany, Steven T. Rier, Thomas L. Bott, J. Denis Newbold, Bernard W. Sweeney
3:00 PM590Using extracellular enzymes to indicate impairments to ecosystem function in streams impacted by abandoned mine drainage in north central Pennsylvania
Steven T. Rier, Matthew E. McTammany, Thomas L. Bott, J. Denis Newbold, Bernard W. Sweeney
Sponsor:Special Sessions

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See more of The NABS 57th Annual Meeting (16-23 May, 2009)