Central Alaska Network flowing waters monitoring program: 2009 annual report

Simmons, Trey

The 2009 field season marked the fourth year of development of the flowing waters portion of the Central Alaska Network (CAKN) Inventory and Monitoring Program, also known as the Vital Signs Program. Data collection occurred in both Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve (WRST) and in Denali National Park and Preserve (DENA). The purposes of the study were to 1) continue to refine field protocols and logistics related to the collection of relevant data in DENA and WRST streams and rivers; 2) test the feasibility of implementing a multi-panel sampling design in WRST; and 3) implement the long-term flowing water monitoring program. The data collected included biological (benthic macroinvertebrate and diatom samples, fish identity and size, riparian vegetation type), physical (channel geometry, substrate, etc.) and chemical (collected in situ as well as in water samples for later analysis) information. Data were collected during a total of 43 site visits across the two park units; 32 unique sites were sampled. Continuously recording temperature data loggers were deployed at 18 sites, and two continuously recording pressure transducers were deployed at one site, with one remaining in place over the winter. In DENA, another seven previously unreported macroinvertebrate taxa were documented, bringing the three-year total to 38 taxa. Network-wide, the program has now documented 143 unique macroinvertebrate taxa and 396 diatom species. The third year of data collected from streams involved in the Long-Term Ecological Monitoring program in DENA confirmed earlier indications that there are incompatibilities between data collected using LTEM methodologies and those collected using CAKN methodologies. Preliminary analyses were conducted on the year-to-year variability of water chemistry and macroinvertebrate data collected since 2006. A substantial portion of the temporal variation in water chemistry, at least for some streams and some constituents, appeared to be attributable to sampling during high- and/or low-flow events. Year-to-year variation in macroinvertebrate composition at most streams appears to be moderate by comparison, and nearly two thirds of the apparent variation is likely due to sampling error. Invertebrate and environmental data collected from 2006-2009 were used to construct preliminary RIVPACS predictive biological assessment models for network streams. Initial results were promising, with precision and bias of the models comparable to that seen in other large-scale models.

Central Alaska Network flowing waters monitoring program: 2009 annual report

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