Episodic Acidification and Associated Fish and Aquatic Invertebrate Responses inFour Catskill Mountain Streams: An Interim Report of the Episodic Response Project

摘要

The Episodic Response Project is a multidisciplinary research project designed toassess the role of storm and snowmelt runoff in stream acidification and the associated responses of fish and invertebrates. Four streams in the Catskill region of eastern New York were selected to represent the following conditions: (1) high acid-neutralizing capacity (ANC) with no acidic episodes annually, (2) high ANC with few acidic episodes, (3) moderate to low ANC with few acidic episodes, and (4) low ANC with frequent acidic episodes. Results of the first 9 months of research in the Catskill region indicate that storm and snowmelt runoff are associated with short periods of stream acidification that, if sufficiently severe, lead to fish mortality or migration away from acidic reaches. Increased discharge coincided with decreased pH and increased total aluminum concentrations in all four streams.