Middle Fork Holston River watershed biological assessment, summers of 1986 and 1987

Technical Report · Sun May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1988

OSTI ID:7120284

Saylor, C F; Hill, D M; Ahlstedt, S A; Brown, A M

Fish and macroinvertebrates were collected to obtain a qualitative and quantitative determination relating the impacts of land use activities on aquatic fauna and water quality in watersheds of the Middle Fork Holston River. Samples were compared to historical data, used for calculating an Index of Biological Integrity (IBI), and examined for diversity and abundance of macroinvertebrates. Most IBI's determined for subwatersheds of the Middle Fork Holston River (MFHR) supported land use inventories and soil loss estimates previously completed by TVA in 1985. These inventories targeted streams likely to be impacted by siltation, agricultural runoff, and other nonpoint pollution sources. Findings indicated that siltation and enrichment had increased in the mainstream of MFHR since 1969. Several sites exhibited characteristics implying additional forms of pollution which were impacting the fauna. Benthic macroinvertebrate samples were helpful in documenting degradation but did not always support IBI's and land use inventory and soil loss estimates. Macroinvertebrate fauna are typically more resilient and recover faster than fish fauna, offering a partial explanation for this phenomenon. 6 refs., 3 figs., 12 tabs.

• Research Organization: Tennessee Valley Authority, Chattanooga (USA). Div. of Air and Water Resources
• OSTI ID: 7120284
• Report Number(s): TVA/ONRED/AWR-88/25; ON: DE88016107
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

13 HYDRO ENERGY
130600* -- Hydro Energy-- Environmental Aspects
520200 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
520500 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Site Resource & Use Studies-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
EUTROPHICATION
EVALUATION
FEDERAL REGION IV
FISHES
INVERTEBRATES
NORTH AMERICA
RIVERS
SAMPLING
SILT
SOILS
SPECIES DIVERSITY
STREAMS
SURFACE WATERS
TENNESSEE
USA
VERTEBRATES
WATER QUALITY