Transcript Water for Everyone: A Holistic Approach to Research

Integrating Principles and Concepts
from General Ecology,
Stream Biology, Biological Diversity
of Stream Invertebrates, and
Water Chemistry
Robert Bohanan, UW Center for Biology Education
Stanley Dodson, UW Zoology
Dolly Ledin, UW Center for Biology Education
Kris Stepenuck, UW Extension & WI DNR
Jongdee To-im, Visiting Scholar from Thailand
Goals & Objectives
• Enhance the ability of leaders of
stream and river monitoring programs
to provide effective education and
training of participants in their
programs that result in data that are
relevant and useful
• Help citizens understand the complex
nature of aquatic systems and thereby
increase their ability to make informed
decisions about water
• Create resources that are specific to
Wisconsin streams & rivers
Definition of Ecology
Ecology is the study of how biotic and abiotic
factors influence the distribution and
relative abundance of organisms in ecological
systems.
Limnology is concerned with all the interrelated
factors that influence the water environment.
Units of Study or Investigation
Individual organism
Population of a species of an organism in an area
Community or groups of populations of several
species in an area
 Ecosystems include communities and abiotic
factors
 Landscapes can be thought of as a geographic
region that typically includes several
ecosystems
 Biosphere or global ecological systems



Introductions
Number of years that you’ve been involved in
water research, education, training, and / or
monitoring
 0-5
 6-10
 11-15
 16-20
 20+
 Your favorite order of aquatic insect

Overarching Concept
Ecology is the study of how living (Biotic) and
non-living (Abiotic) factors influence Living
Systems
 Living Systems include:



Individual organisms
Groups of organisms
What types of factor influence
biological diversity in rivers and
streams?
Abiotic factors
Biotic factors
Biological
Diversity
Thought Questions
1) List examples of biotic factors that are
influenced by abiotic factors.
2) List examples of abiotic factors that are
influenced by biotic factors.
3) How do biotic and abiotic factors influence
biological diversity independently?
4) How do biotic and abiotic factors act in
concert to influence biological diversity?
Temperature
Substrate
Chemical
Factors
Light
Current
Biological
Diversity
Producers
Competition
Invasive
Organisms
Consumers
Predation
Temperature
Substrate
Chemical
Factors
Light
Current
Biological
Diversity
Producers
Competition
Invasive
Organisms
Consumers
Predation
Physical
Environment
Chemical
Environment
Biological
Environment
Stream order determination
Use what you’ve learned about how to classify streams by stream
order and for each of the streams on the hypothetical stream
network determine stream order.
Stream order determination
1
1
1
2
2
1
3
2
1
1
3
3
1
Use what you’ve learned about how to classify streams by stream
order and for each of the streams on the hypothetical stream
network determine stream order.
Thought Questions
1) How would water temperature change as you move from
streams of a lower order to streams of a higher order in a
stream system?
2)How would you expect the types of predators (e.g. species
or groups) to change as you move from lower order
streams to higher order streams in a stream system?
3)Think about a stream that you’re familiar with its
watershed. Determine the stream order. Based on the
stream order and using the river continuum concept,
determine and describe how the physical and biological
characteristics of the stream match what the river
continuum concept would predict.
Stream
Order
Organic Energy
Sources
1
2
Coarse Particulate Organic Matter
3
4
Fine Particulate Organic Matter
7
8
9
10
11
12
Shredders
Grazers
Predators
Collectors
Microbes
Periphyton
5
6
Ecological
Communities
Phytoplankton
Zooplankton
Dissolved Organic Matter
Channel Width
Collectors
Shredders
Predators
Grazers
Microbes
Collectors
Predators
Microbes
Diagram
courtesy of
Riveredge
Nature
Center
Figure 7. Two pathways for organic food in streams.
Allochthonous Inputs
Autochthonous Inputs
Coarse Particulate Organic Matter
Leaves
Fine Particulate Organic Matter
Diatoms
Physical Breakdown
Photosynthesis
Scrapers
Shredders
Microbes
Fine Particulate Organic Matter
Collectors
Predators
Dissolved Organic Matter
Thought Questions
1) How might seasonal changes influence the
relative importance of autochthonous
production and allochthonous production in a
first order stream?
2) Explain how fine particulate organic matter
may enter a stream food web from both
autochthonous and allochthonous sources?
Basic food web illustration
Vertebrate
Predators
Insect
Predators
Vertebrate
Herbivores
Algae & Plants
in the stream
Insect
Herbivores
Microbes
Organic
Matter from
outside of
the stream
Basic food web illustration
Vertebrate
Predators
Insect
Predators
Vertebrate
Herbivores
Algae & Plants
in the stream
Insect
Herbivores
Microbes
Organic
Matter from
outside of
the stream
Feeding Groups or Guilds





Shredders - Coarse woody or plant
associated materials
Filtering Collectors - Suspended
particulates, microbes, phytoplankton
Gathering Collectors - Deposited
particulates
Grazers/Scrapers - Peryiphyton & fungi
Predators - especially invertebrates
Thought Questions
1) What are some different adaptations that
filtering collectors might have for filtering
that could reduce competition among the
different taxonomic groups that would rely
upon suspended organic matter for food?
2) What are some ways that you would further
subdivide the predator feeding group of
aquatic insects that feed on other aquatic
insects?
Sampling and Long-term Monitoring
Importance of Scale in Ecology

Spatial scales can
vary widely


Individual Pitcher
Plants Function as
Aquatic Ecological
Systems
Multiple Lakes are
Connected
Ecologically in a
Region
Pitcher
plan photo
by Merel
Black
Hours Days Weeks Months Years Decades Centuries
Figure 2. Scale of Sampling and Analysis in Streams
Ecosystem/Biome
Watershed
Ecosystem
Reach
Community/Ecosystem
Pool-Riffle Sequence
Population/Community
Microhabitat
Individual Organism,
Particle or Grain
Millimeters
Meters
Kilometers
Sq. Kilometers
Thought Questions
1) What spatial and temporal scale would you choose to
sample to determine changes in populations (number
of individuals of the same species in a given area)?
Table 2.
Abundance (#/m2)
920
1300
2130
3480
5680
Substrate Type
Sand
Gravel
Pebbles & Cobble
Leaves
Detritus
# of Species
61
82
76
92
66
Graphic presentation of Table 2.
(# / square meter) (x)
# of species (o)
Abundance
x
o
o
o
o
x
Sand
Gravel
x
x
o
x
Pebbles & Cobble
Leaves
Detritus
Thought Questions
1) Explain why the comparison of the relative
abundance of aquatic insects could increase in
samples starting with sand and then continuing to
gravel, and pebbles and cobble.
2) Why might species diversity be lower in samples of
detritus compared to intact leaves?
Number of individuals per
stone or density per stone
Figure 3. Relationship of Diversity and Abundance (or Density)
Number of species per stone
Thought Questions
1) What ecological factors might explain the
relationship that biological diversity increases as
the number of individuals in a sample increases?
2) Under what conditions might you expect to see this
relationship reversed?
Number of species
Figure 4. Relationship of Diversity and Watershed Area
Watershed Area (square miles)
Thought Questions
1) Explain why watershed area or size is related to the
biological diversity found within a stream in a
watershed.
2) Under what conditions would you expect that
biological diversity might be negatively related to
watershed area or size?
Number of species
Figure 5. Relationship of Diversity and Sampling Effort
Number of samples
Thought Questions
1) If changes in sampling effort are related to changes
in estimates of biological diversity, how would plan
your sampling as part of your monitoring to ensure
that your resulting estimates of biological diversity
are comparable.
Identifying and Describing Trends in Data
Statistics that describe a pattern
in relationships among variables
Trend
Line
of
Trend
and
Number of
of
TrendLine
Line of
of BI
BI and
and Number
Number
Families
Families
Families
12
12
12
• Linear regressions determine a
trend in a series of data and can
be used to make projections.
y = 3.1979x + 0.0887
10
10
10
R2 = 0.7498
Number of Families
Number of Families
Number of Families
• Correlation coefficients
determine the degree to which
two variables in a data set
covary.
888
666
4
44
2
22
0
00
0
00
1
11
2
3
2
33
2
Biotic Index Value
Biotic Index
Biotic
Index Value
Value
4
44
Identifying and Describing Trends in Data
• Correlation coefficients
determine the degree to which
two variables in a data set
covary.
• Linear regressions determine a
trend in a series of data and can
be used to make projections.
Temperature
Temperature and
and DO
DO(conc)
(conc)
14
DissolvedOxygen
Oxygenmg/L
mg/L
Dissolved
Dissolved
Oxygen
mg/L
Statistics that describe a pattern
in relationships among variables
12
10
10
8
8
8
6
6
6
y = -0.5094x + 15.483
4
4
4
R2 = 0.9057
2
2
2
0
0
0
0
00
5
5
5
10
10
Temperature (C)
Temperature (C)
(C)
Temperature
15
15
20
20
x
x
x
x
x
x
x x
x
x
x
x x x
x
Low
Water Quality Index
High
Trend in HBI Scores in Brewery Creek, Hwy 14 Cross Plains, WI (1985-2002)
1985
1993
2001
Thought Questions
1) What are some of the most important factors that
may influence biological diversity estimates in your
monitoring?
2) Considering the data on Brewery Creek, what can you
learn from long - term monitoring data that you
could not learn from a single monitoring data point?
Thank you for your
attention