Aquatic invertebrate monitoring at Pea Ridge National Military Park, 2009–2015
Bowles DE, Cribbs JT, Hinsey JA. 2018. Aquatic invertebrate monitoring at Pea Ridge National Military Park, 2009–2015. Natural Resource Data Series. NPS/HTLN/NRDS—2018/1146. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
Stream invertebrates were monitored in three streams located at Pea Ridge National Military Park, Arkansas in 2009/2010, 2012 and 2015 for the purpose of assessing water quality. Monitoring data are insufficient to fully characterize the integrity of these streams, but the available data suggest some mild disturbances may be occur-ring in the watersheds of the streams. Community metrics indicate moderate to low diversity among the benthic communities. Both intolerant and tolerant taxa (tolerance values ≥5) were present in most samples, and several genera of environmentally sensitive Ephemeroptera, Trichoptera and Plecoptera (EPT) occurred in each stream. All water quality parameters measured in this study were well within the Arkansas surface water standards. Habi-tat conditions were typical for regional streams. In comparison to least disturbed streams in the region, data for these streams indicate they may be mildly disturbed, but such disturbance may be from historic physical distur-bance in the watershed and periodic intermittent flows rather than on-going disturbances. Potential threats to stream integrity do occur in the watershed, including agricultural activities and urban encroachment. There are few available options to park management for mitigating water quality impairment of streams flowing through Pea Ridge National Military Park, largely because impacts to water quality and associated effects on the inverte-brate communities originate upstream of the park boundaries.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Bowles, David; Cribbs, J.; Hinsey, Janice
- Date of Issue
- 2018-01
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- HTLN , NRSS , PERI
- Keywords
- Aquatic Invertebrate Monitoring, Ozarks
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Water | Water Quality | Aquatic Macroinvertebrates and Algae