Agricultural practices may influence stream biological communities by removing riparian vegetation and modifying stream channel morphology, both which may reduce water retention time. I collected benthic invertebrates and fishes in seven headwater agriculturally-influenced streams in central Indiana, to quantify controls on invertebrate and fish community assemblage variation. Invertebrates were collected at 14 sites and fish were collected at 12 sites in Buck Creek watershed. The abundances of invertebrates and fishes were analyzed in Detrended Correspondence Analyses (DCA) in PC-ORD software and correlated with abiotic and biotic factors. The sites located in close proximity to Buck Creek have increased stability of biotic (fish assemblages) and abiotic (flow and water depth) factors. Abundances of invertebrates of headwater streams in east-central Indiana agricultural landscapes are influenced by distance between sites, distance to Buck Creek, and presence of fish species. Abundances of fishes were correlated with water quality and distance to Buck Creek. / Department of Biology

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This study has attempted to model and quantify the impacts of Beneficial Management Practices (BMP) like buffer strips on the phosphorus concentration and loading in the Buck Creek Watershed of Central Indiana. The GIS based modeling was done using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Services (USDA-ARS). The results from the EPA funded two year (2002-2004) Upper White River Watershed Project (UWRWP) for the Buck Creek Watershed were used as the measured base data for the modeling evaluation. These measured data were compared against the data generated out of the model simulation based on two different scenarios which took into consideration the combinations of land use, agricultural management practices, point source pollutions and BMPs. Scenario-1 simulated all the aspects of land use intensity, moderate agricultural management practices and moderate point source pollutions taking place in the Buck Creek watershed. While running the model in scenario-1, there was a noticeable increase in the phosphorus loading to the sub-watersheds ranging from 10% in the lowland sub-watershed of BC-4 to 39% in the highland sub-watershed of BC-7. In scenario-2, BMPs were implemented in the model which added 100 acres of vegetated buffer strips uniformly in all sub-watersheds and 3 acres of grassed buffers along the streams except BC-3. On re-running the model in scenario-2, there was a drastic decline in the phosphorus loading to the stream. It has been noted that there was at least 15% reduction in the loading of phosphorus to the stream where buffer strips were implemented. The present GIS modeling study helped to quantify the changes in the loading of sediments and nutrients which are induced by any parametric changes in the watershed including soil, slope, land use, agricultural management practices and BMPs. / Department of Geography

Thesis (M.S.)--Bowling Green State University, 2005. / Document formatted into pages; contains xii, 106 p. : ill., maps. Includes bibliographical references.

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Etheostoma kantuckeense and E. lawrencei are former members of the wide ranging E. spectabile species complex. Etheostoma kantuckeense is endemic to the Barren River Basin in Southern Kentucky and Northern Tennessee, while E. lawrencei occurs in the Green River, Salt River, and Cumberland River Basins of Central and Eastern Kentucky. Isolation of populations within these drainages has allowed for a relatively recent evolutionary divergence, leading to slight differences in morphology. This study was conducted to address if geographical isolation has led to measurable differences in the ecology of these two species. In particular, habitat preference across three spatial scales and growth rates were examined. To assess stream preference within a drainage, 59 streams were sampled for fish abundance and environmental parameters in the Upper Barren River Basin (E. kantuckeense; N=24) and the Upper Green River Basin (E. lawrencei; N=35). Channel unit preference and growth rates were compared in two physically similar upland streams, which were sampled monthly from August 2007 through August 2008. Surveys for microhabitat preference were conducted in these same streams in November 2008. Results from a canonical correspondence analysis show that both species occupy equivalent stream types in their respective watersheds. Within the two survey streams, run habitat was preferred over riffle and pool habitats over the course of the year, and both species exhibited similar seasonal habitat shifts. Microhabitat associations for both species were predominately for small to coarse gravel (1–40mm diameter) substrates. In addition, growth of individuals in their first year of life was similar for both species. These results suggest that these species maintain similar ecological traits in their respective watersheds. The retention of these headwater adapted traits in disjunct populations likely promoted vicariant allopatric speciation in these fishes through isolation and the inability to disperse across ecological barriers.