Western Maryland Stream Survey: Relationships between Fish Distributions, Acidification, and Watershed Characteristics

摘要

During 1989, 79 stream reaches in western Maryland were surveyed to determine their sensitivity to acidification and to correlate the presence and abundance of fishes in these streams with chemical and physical characteristics. Of the streams sampled, 11.5% had acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) values less than 0 microequivalents/liter while 70.5% had ANC levels less than 200 microequivalents/liter. In addition to the observed ANC levels, 15% of the stream reaches sampled had total monomeric aluminum concentrations greater than 100 micrograms/liter and 16.5% had pH values less than 6.5. Of 72 fish surveys on stream reaches sampled for chemistry, 16 of the reaches contained no fish.