Committee Chair

Schorr, Mark S.

Committee Member

Litchford, Gary; Johnson, Paul D.

Department

Dept. of Biology, Geology, and Environmental Science

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

Twenty-one sites across seven streams in the Chattanooga metropolitan area, Tennessee-Georgia, were studied from April-August, 1999, as part of the Urban Streams Project. All sites are in the Ridge and Valley ecoregion and are part of the Nickajack Reservoir watershed in the Tennessee River system. Study sites were characterized in terms of water quality, habitat, and fish assemblages. Relationships among these features and land use, at both the riparian and watershed scales, were examined. A total of 40 species representing nine families of fishes were collected by electrofishing. Biotic integrity at all sites was degraded to some extent, with 16 sites receiving index of biotic integrity (IBI) ratings of poor or lower. Index of Biotic Integrity scores were negatively correlated with urban land use at the watershed scale and positively correlated with habitat features such as rocky substrate and thalweg depth. Scores were not significantly correlated with riparian land use. Instream rocky substrate was correlated with land use at both the riparian and watershed scales and was negatively correlated with urban land use, but positively correlated with wooded/forested land use.

Acknowledgments

I am very grateful to all of the individuals who have helped me with my thesis. I would like to thank Dr. Mark Schorr for providing so many opportunities for me to pursue my interests in studying stream ecosystems. Throughout the time I have worked with him, I have been able to study numerous stream systems throughout the Hamilton County area, and beyond. Each stream site I have studied has a special uniqueness, and studying each has given me an even greater appreciation for the complexity of the natural world in which I live. I appreciate the encouragement provided by my thesis committee members, Dr. Gary Litchford, Dr. Paul Johnson, and Dr. Ann Stapleton. I am grateful to Doug Fritz and the City of Chattanooga, Storm water Management Division, for funding the Urban Streams Project, and for his support of our study ideas. I would like to thank the numerous landowners who have graciously allowed access onto their property at my sites. I could not have completed my project without the assistance provided by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). TVA provided information regarding drainage areas and watershed land use. They also provided the study area map presented in my thesis. In addition, they allowed me to use their Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) computer program for my thesis analyses. Evan Crews, James Parsly, Charlie Saylor, and Amy Wales, in particular, provided invaluable assistance. I am very grateful to Dr. David A Etnier, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, for verifying identifications of largescale stonerollers and southern redbelly dace. Evan Crews and Paul Freeman patiently put up with me, sometimes daily, in working on the Urban Streams Project for over two years. I can never fully express my gratitude to them for helping me learn about streams. I appreciate the many individuals who have assisted with field work on the fish assemblage component of the Urban Streams Project (1998-1999), including Jennifer Backer, John Beck, Casey Botts, Ashley Brooks, John Cain, Casper Cox, Justin Dick, Ryan Dyer, Liz Klicker, Steve Newland, Brian Rogers, Chris Trundle, and Johnny Williams. I would especially like to recognize my husband, Gary Long, who has enriched my life in more ways than I can mention. I would like to thank my children, Hannah and Levi, for playing in the creek with me and for giving me the inspiration I needed to continue. I am also grateful to my many students who have enthusiastically pulled tires out of, and planted trees and shrubs along, the banks of Mouse Creek. Finally, I would like to thank God for the delicate intricacy of life.

Degree

M. S.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science.

Date

12-2001

Subject

Stream ecology; Urban watersheds; Water quality--Measurement; Environmental impact analysis

Discipline

Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment

Document Type

Masters theses

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

viii, 79 leaves

Language

English

Call Number

LB2369.2 .L663 2001

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Download

Share

COinS