We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
High-resolution assessment and visualization of environmental stressors in the Lake Superior basin.
- Authors
Host, GeorgeE.; Brown, TerryN.; Hollenhorst, TomP.; Johnson, LucindaB.; Ciborowski, JanJ. H.
- Abstract
Quantifying gradients of anthropogenic stress can inform the development of sample designs, provide an important covariate in modeling relationships of response variables, identify reference and highly-disturbed sites, and provide a baseline and guidance to restoration and remediation efforts. We describe development of SumRel, a composite index of anthropogenic stress, for the U.S. and Canadian Lake Superior basin. Key elements of the project include development of high-resolution watersheds throughout the basin, summarization of the major point and non-point stressors within these watersheds, and creation of tools for scaling the watersheds and stressor summaries. SumRel was calculated at two spatial scales: for high resolution subcatchments within the Lake Superior basin (mean watershed area = 93 ha) and for coastal watersheds of Lake Superior. An assessment of subcatchments within Minnesota's St. Louis River watershed showed a correlation between the degree of disturbance, as indicated by SumRel, and impaired water quality, as evidenced by in-stream conductivity. These data and tools allow identification and visualization of reference and highly-disturbed sites at multiple spatial scales, providing decision support for individual agency and binational monitoring, assessment and restoration initiatives across the Lake Superior basin.
- Subjects
LAKE Superior Watershed; LAKE Superior; ANTHROPOGENIC effects on nature; ENVIRONMENTAL remediation; RESTORATION ecology; HIGH resolution imaging
- Publication
Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management, 2011, Vol 14, Issue 4, p376
- ISSN
1463-4988
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1080/14634988.2011.625340