Habitat Assessment. Peggy Compton UW-Extension Water Action Volunteers Program Coordinator

Transcription

1 Habitat Assessment Peggy Compton UW-Extension Water Action Volunteers Program Coordinator Adapted from a presentation by Jean Unmuth, Water Quality Biologist, WI DNR dnr.wi.gov erc.cals.wisc.edu

2 Preserve and protect Wisconsin's streams by: Program Objectives: Educating and empowering citizens Obtaining high quality data Sharing data and knowledge

3 Habitat Assessment: Getting Started WAV uses the Wadable Stream Qualitative Fish Habitat Ratingsame as used by the Wisconsin DNR Forms can be found here: The form you use depends on the width of your stream Assess habitat once/year after leaves emerge (generally mid-july through mid-august) Move upstream through your stream segment Be safe go in groups of two or more

4 Choice of Two Qualitative Habitat Forms (based on stream width) < or = to 10 m (33 ft) width >10 m (33 ft) width Determine your mean stream width: Measure at ten locations along an extended length and take the average to determine your stream width. Stream width is measured wetted bank to wetted bank. Depending on your mean stream width you will then use either the less than or equal to 10 meter (33 ) or great than 10 meter form.

5 The Form: Station Summary Page 1: Both forms ask for the same information. Fill in your mean stream width and circle units (feet or meters). Station length = 35 x mean width (max of 400 m or 1300 feet). Do not assess habitat if you cannot assess the entire station length. Record water level. Water clarity: turbid is if there is silt moving down the stream, and you can t see the bottom in a run or riffle; stained is where tannic acid from leaves stains the water. Channel condition: natural is if it is not straightened or concrete. Straightened streams often have a mounded (not flat) bank on one or both sides where dredged materials were placed, and the stream channel is uniform without bends for a long distance.

6 Terms: Riparian Buffer The land alongside the stream - top of bank and landward. Riparian area is the land next to the stream or along side the stream, but not in the stream. It s where you are standing on top the bank and looking landward. Photos: DNR

7 The 10m Form: Riparian Buffer Width Rate each habitat item choosing from four options- poor, fair, good, excellent. Circle the number that corresponds to the rating. In this case, wider buffers offer more protection from storm runoff, with widths greater than 33 ft. getting an excellent rating. If your riparian buffer is very narrow or less than 3.3 ft or 1 m your score is zero and rating is poor. Other widths fall in between, as noted. Look at both sides of the stream and along the entire length of your station. Meadow can be tall grass like reed canary or natural prairie vegetation; pastures and grazed lands are considered disturbed. If you leave the stream and walk on private land you need landowner permission.

8 Terms: Riffles The shallow fast water areas of the stream in which movement is turbulent and water breaks over rocks. Photo: River-school.org Photo: Jean Unmuth/DNR

9 Terms: Run Deeper than a riffle, shallower than a pool. Areas with moving water but little or no turbulence. Photo: Jean Unmuth/DNR Left photo: Elly standing just above a riffle at the start of a run. Photo right: Foreground run, background riffle.

10 Terms: Pool Deep, slow water areas, deeper than runs and riffles. Usually wider than a run with eddies off to the sides of the pool. Photo: Pete Jopke/Dane Co.

11 Online-sciences.com Terms: Fine Sediments This includes sand (gritty), silt and clay (sticky). Chemistryland.com Ncptt.nps.gov Uccmg.com If it s not rock, its fine sediment. No need to differentiate between the types of fines. Important to know for the < or = to 10 m stream width assessment.

12 Terms: Rocky Substrate Includes gravel, rubble/cobble, boulder, and bedrock. Gravel: 0.1 to 2 in. Cobble: 2 to 10 in. Boulder: > 10 in. Bedrock: solid rock Sbsg.com Oaklandlandscapesupp ly.com Wickistone.com Hoorwa.org For the > 10 m form, % fine sediments on the stream bed is not scored, instead the % rocky substrate on the stream bed is recorded.

13 Terms: Thalweg The path of deepest and fastest water. Stream depth is measured at the thalweg. Thalweg typically follows the center of a run, either straight down the center or off to one side of riffle, and in deepest part of a pool.

14 The 10m Form: Bank Erosion Photo: Streamfender.com The bank is that piece of land from the waterline up to just below the riparian area, or at the bank crest. It s often fairly vertical, but can be gently sloping. You might measure these at your transects with a meter stick, until you get familiar with lengths of eroded bank.

15 The 10m Form: Bank Erosion Left photo: foreground is unstable with considerable erosion; background is very stable no erosion. Right photo: the bank is stable and not eroded.

16 Bank Erosion Is this bank stable? How much bank erosion do you see? Greater than 3.3 ft (1 m)? Yes, if you look closely in the background downstream, you will note that the bank has actually caved away and is in the stream.

17 The 10m Form: Cover for Fish Water should be 8 in. or 0.2 m deep less than that does not provide cover for adult and juvenile fish. Logs, aquatic vegetation beds, boulders are habitat. Shrubs, tall grasses, trees overhanging water are habitat. Manmade LUNKER structures or half logs are also habitat.

18 Making Your Assessment: Habitat Transect Table Habitat Transect Sheet SWIMS Station & Location: Measurements in Feet or Meters (circle one) TRANSECTS Total Average Stream Width (ft) Stream Depth (thalweg) Bank Stability (% bank protected) Distance between riffles of bends Rocky Substrate (%, by area, that is gravel, cobble, boulder or bedrock Cover for Fish (% cover in at least 8" water depth A table to record information at each transect can be very helpful in making your habitat rating. This can be used to record stream width measurements, followed by the seven rating items for streams < or = to 10 m or the five items for the streams >10 m. Remember to observe both sides of the stream as you move through your station length.

19 Example of Using Habitat Transect Table 10 Using the information recorded in your transect table you can determine the width:depth ratio, one of the rating items on the assessment for streams < or = to 10 m. Width:Depth Ratio = avg.width(4.3 )/avg.depth(0.42 )= 10.2

20 Example of Completed Habitat Form

21 Interpreting the Results Habitat Rating Total Score Range Excellent >80 Good Fair Poor <20