Professional Documents
Culture Documents
DANIELLE QUIST USD BIOLOGY GRAD STUDENT O C T O B E R 2 1 ST, 2 0 1 0 RIVER STUDIES LECTURE
connected by a downstream opening to the main channel and seasonally or periodically connected at an upstream opening.
Role of Backwaters
Backwaters Provide Productive and Protective
Lower flows provide protection and decrease turbidity Increase in photosynthesis Higher abundance of food sources for many organisms
Backwaters as Wetlands
Backwaters
Come in all Different Shapes and Sizes Can Make them Difficult to Study and Compare Lets Look at Some Backwaters Along the Mississippi
1 1
Dammed Reaches
Dammed Reaches
Dammed Reaches
Missouri River has been
Decrease in Shallow Water Habitat Along the 59mile MNRR Pre and Post Dam
Shallow Water Habitat Area Changes Post Dam Along the 59-mile Reach of the MNRR
460 ha
Area (ha)
261 ha
1941 Year
2008
Channelized Reach
Aquatic habitat was lost as 168,000 acres of sediment accreted behind the wing dikes, forming new land. Nearly 354,000 acres of meander belt habitat were lost to urban and agricultural floodplain development.
Floodplain Connectivity
Many rivers are disconnected to
their floodplain
Habitat Restoration
Restoring Shallow Water Habitat along the Missouri
River
USACE has been working to restore shallow water habitat (SWH), including backwaters, along the Missouri River south of Ponca, NE as a response to the reasonable and prudent alternative (RPA) outlined in the 2000 Biological Opinion (amended in 2003). Recent purchase of land by USACE may lead to future backwater and chute construction along the 59-mile MNRR
MNRR
Yankton Backwater (RM 806) Gunderson Backwater (RM 777) Ponca Backwater (RM 754)
778
777
Missouri River Recovery Program ESH and SWH Site Locations, 2010
Chlorophyll a Concentration and Water Quality Trends Within the Main Channel, Reconstructed and Naturally Occurring Backwaters of the 59-mile Reach of the Missouri National Recreational River (MNRR)
USD River Studies Course October 2011
D A N I E L L E Q U I S T 1, T I M C O W M A N 2, D A N S O L U K 1, M A R K D I X O N 1
1
DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH DAKOTA, VERMILLION, S D 2 MISSOURI RIVER INSTITUTE, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH DAKOTA, VERMILLION , SD
1 1
59-mile MNRR
Primary Objectives
Spatially and temporally compare various water quality
parameters and Chl a concentrations of the restored and natural backwaters and the main channel of the 59-mile reach of the MNRR
Investigate relationships between Chl a concentrations and water
quality parameters
RM 757 NBW
RM 806 RBW
RM 777 RBW
RM 774 NBW
RM 766 NBW
RM 754 RBW
Methods
Samples were collected monthly in June-Sept. 2010 from the 3 reconstructed (RM 806, 777, and 754) and 3 natural backwaters (RM 774, 766, and 757) as well as adjacent main channel sites Samples were collected at 1/3 depth to bottom with VanDorn bottle and shipped to the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources (SDDENR) Water Quality Lab In situ measurements (e.g., temperature, pH, conductivity, DO, and turbidity) were taken with a compound YSI probe Chl a was determined using EPAs Standard Operation Procedure with Chl a concentrations calculated from measurements taken with a Beckman Coulter DU 640 Spectrophotometer to estimate phytoplankton biomass. Repeated Measures ANOVA and Multiple/Linear Regression analyses were run on SAS 9.2
Inorganics
Alkalinity Ammonia Nitrate Total Phosphorus Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Total Suspended Solids (TSS)
ammonia, TSS, phosphorus, TDS, temperature, turbidity, and Chl a concentration (p<0.05).
There were no significant differences between main
the reconstructed backwaters were significantly different from the other two habitats (p<0.05).
0.4
0.3 0.2 0.1 0
0
June 750 700 650 600 550 500 450 400 June July Aug Sept July Aug Sept
10
0 June July Aug Sept
Main Channel
0
June 30 25 Temp C 20 15 10 5 0 July Aug Sept
Discussion
Temporal trends in TSS, TDS, and nutrients are linked with seasonal patterns in runoff, discharge, and land use. The restored backwaters show lower levels of TSS, TDS, and turbidity, which is highly likely due to the lower connectivity compared to the natural occurring backwaters
Chl a Concentration
Figure 12: Linear Regression Plot for Chlorophyll a (Chl a) and Total Suspended Solids (TSS); n = 42 & R-square = 0.3104
Discussion
Evidence points to the possibility of a more light limited then
nutrient limited system, but more samples would be necessary to determine the correlations within the different habitats
Most lake studies have shown phytoplankton (Chl a) to be phosphorus limited (e.g. Dillion & Rigler 1974; Schindler 1977), as well as nitrogen limited (Downing & McCauley 1992). Rivers have also shown positive relationships with nutrients and Chl a (Basu and Pick 1995).
phytoplankton abundance more than nutrient concentrations in rivers (e.g. Jones 1984; Krogstatd and Lovestad 1989) which may be similar to what is seen in the 59-mile reach of the MNRR.
Backwaters
Natural Backwaters Recreated Backwaters Floodplain lakes/Oxbow lakes Backups Chutes Side Channel Chutes (2) Secondary Channels (2)
Other Channels
Islands Sandbars
THE END