Maryland Biological Stream Survey: Ecological Status of Non-Tidal Streams in Six Basins Sampled in 1995.

摘要

The Maryland Biological Stream Survey (MBSS) is a comprehensive program to assess the status of biological resources in Maryland's non-tidal streams; quantify the extent to which acidic deposition has affected or may be affecting critical biological resources in the state; examine which other water chemistry, physical habitat, and land use factors are important in explaining the current status of biological resources in streams; establish a benchmark for long-term monitoring of trends in these resources; and target future local-scale assessments and mitigation measures needed to restore degraded biological resources. To meet these and other objectives, the MBSS has established a list of questions of interest to environmental decision-makers to guide the MBSS' design, implementation, and analysis. These questions fall into three categories: (1) characterizing biological resources and ecological conditions (such as the number of fish in a watershed or the number of stream miles with pH < 5), (2) assessing the condition of these resources (as deviation from minimally disturbed expectations), and (3) identifying likely sources of degradation (by delineating relationships between biological conditions and anthropogenic stresses).