Thesis (M.S.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2005. / "December, 2005." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 103-112). Online version available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Montana, 2006. / Title from title screen. Description based on contents viewed Mar. 23, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 94-96).

Monitoring successful urban stream restorations can provide guidance for best practices for restoration design. My case study was located at Critter Creek, a tributary to the Grand River, in northeast Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, where due to high flow and tight meanders, six constructed offline ponds have become connected to the main stream and are now online ponds. This project aimed to evaluate how these online (formerly offline) ponds are affecting the restoration of the stream. The majority of research on this topic has concentrated on ponds specifically constructed for stormwater management or on urban restored streams without ponds. In many restoration plans, offline ponds are proposed to compensate for cut-fill balances and/or for habitat diversity. The relationship of these offline ponds to the function and ecology of the channel has not often been assessed. Benthic macroinvertebrates were used as indicators of restoration as a proxy for water quality. Using a Surber sampler, samples were collected in the reaches of the stream upstream of the inlet and downstream of the outlet of each pond. Comparative samples were taken from waterbodies that provided a restored stream without offline ponds and a reference stream. In the laboratory, all benthic macroinvertebrates were identified to the Family level. Ecology-based metrics (EPT, functional feeding groups, etc.) and an index (Hilsenhoff FBI) were used to characterize the assemblages. The Percent Model Affinity (PMA) Method was used to determine the impairment of the streams and Mann-Whitney tests were conducted to determine if differences existed between the samples taken close to the ponds and those not close to the ponds. Those tests were also conducted to determine differences between Critter Creek and the reference and other restored stream. PMA results from monitoring from previous years indicated that Critter Creek was an impaired stream, and this research shows that the stream is still impaired with PMA values less than 33.23% for 83 of 89 samples. Mann-Whitney tests showed that the location in Critter Creek, whether it be adjacent to an online pond or not, does not have an effect on the benthic assemblages. They also indicate that the composition of the benthic assemblages in Critter Creek has not reached the same stage as those in Laurel Creek, the reference stream, or Clair Creek, the other restored stream. While the habitat and functional requirements of organisms between all three streams is similar, the water quality present in Critter Creek is much lower than in the other two streams. Further monitoring could be completed to determine the trajectory of the benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages in this restoration. However, given that monitoring for the past 10 years has shown that the ecosystem integrity of Critter Creek is not improving, it is advised that action be taken now to improve the stream restoration. The concepts of urban ecology were addressed in this study and a wider-scope monitoring program could be completed to determine the impact of urbanization on the restoration of Critter Creek.

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Landscape Architecture

Monitoring successful urban stream restorations can provide guidance for best practices for restoration design. My case study was located at Critter Creek, a tributary to the Grand River, in northeast Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, where due to high flow and tight meanders, six constructed offline ponds have become connected to the main stream and are now online ponds. This project aimed to evaluate how these online (formerly offline) ponds are affecting the restoration of the stream. The majority of research on this topic has concentrated on ponds specifically constructed for stormwater management or on urban restored streams without ponds. In many restoration plans, offline ponds are proposed to compensate for cut-fill balances and/or for habitat diversity. The relationship of these offline ponds to the function and ecology of the channel has not often been assessed. Benthic macroinvertebrates were used as indicators of restoration as a proxy for water quality. Using a Surber sampler, samples were collected in the reaches of the stream upstream of the inlet and downstream of the outlet of each pond. Comparative samples were taken from waterbodies that provided a restored stream without offline ponds and a reference stream. In the laboratory, all benthic macroinvertebrates were identified to the Family level. Ecology-based metrics (EPT, functional feeding groups, etc.) and an index (Hilsenhoff FBI) were used to characterize the assemblages. The Percent Model Affinity (PMA) Method was used to determine the impairment of the streams and Mann-Whitney tests were conducted to determine if differences existed between the samples taken close to the ponds and those not close to the ponds. Those tests were also conducted to determine differences between Critter Creek and the reference and other restored stream. PMA results from monitoring from previous years indicated that Critter Creek was an impaired stream, and this research shows that the stream is still impaired with PMA values less than 33.23% for 83 of 89 samples. Mann-Whitney tests showed that the location in Critter Creek, whether it be adjacent to an online pond or not, does not have an effect on the benthic assemblages. They also indicate that the composition of the benthic assemblages in Critter Creek has not reached the same stage as those in Laurel Creek, the reference stream, or Clair Creek, the other restored stream. While the habitat and functional requirements of organisms between all three streams is similar, the water quality present in Critter Creek is much lower than in the other two streams. Further monitoring could be completed to determine the trajectory of the benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages in this restoration. However, given that monitoring for the past 10 years has shown that the ecosystem integrity of Critter Creek is not improving, it is advised that action be taken now to improve the stream restoration. The concepts of urban ecology were addressed in this study and a wider-scope monitoring program could be completed to determine the impact of urbanization on the restoration of Critter Creek.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Mar. 10, 2008). Directed by Anne E. Hershey; submitted to the Dept. of Biology. Includes bibliographical references (p. 33-39).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 2005. Graduate Programme in Education. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 170-179). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0&did=1126759811&SrchMode=1&sid=22&Fmt=2&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1195575878&clientId=5220

Thesis (M.S.)--George Mason University, 2008. / Vita: p. 105. Thesis director: Christian Jones. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Environmental Science and Policy. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Aug. 28, 2008). Includes bibliographical references (p. 96-104). Also issued in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 148-163).

Scotts Creek, located in northern Santa Cruz County, maintains the southernmost persistent population of Central California Coast (CCC) Coho Salmon (endangered) in addition to CCC steelhead (threatened). Fisheries biologists believe overwinter mortality due to lack of refuge habitat is the primary factor limiting salmonid production. Instream rearing habitat may also be limiting, especially during drought years. The legacy effects of historic land use practices, including dredging, wood removal, and the construction of levees, continued to limit refuge and rearing opportunities. A restoration project was implemented to improve refuge and rearing opportunities for salmonids along lower Scotts Creek by removing portions of the deteriorating levee, grading new connections with existing off-channel features, enhancing tributary confluences, constructing alcove habitat features at the margins of the stream channel, and constructing large wood complexes (LWCs) instream. Novel restoration techniques were employed on an experimental basis. Whole in-situ alder trees were pushed into the stream channel with their root systems left partially intact to establish living key pieces. Individual log, boulder, and rootwad LWC components were attached together with couplers that permitted some freedom of independent movement among the individual components. LWCs were braced against live, standing trees and stabilized with boulder ballasts placed on the streambed, which eliminated excavation of the streambed/banks and the need to dewater or divert the stream during construction. Project performance, changes to physical habitat characteristics, and changes to stream morphology associated with implementation were monitored using habitat assessment methods derived from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (CDFW) salmonid habitat survey protocol (Flosi et al. 2010), and topographic survey techniques and data analysis adapted from Columbia Habitat Monitoring Protocol (Bouwes et al. 2011). Preliminary results indicated that LWCs remained stable and functional. In addition, implementation of the restoration project increased pool frequency, low-flow pool volume, instream cover, frequency of instream, alcove, and off-channel refuge habitat features, and frequency of points of connectivity with the floodplain. Long-term monitoring will be required to determine the survivorship, decay rates, and overall persistence of alder recruits.