Biological Response Signatures: Indicator Patterns Using Aquatic Communities

1. Biological Response Signatures: Toward the Detection of Cause-and-Effect and Diagnosis in Environmental Disturbance
2. Biotic Community Response to Stress
3. Using Biological Response Signatures with in a Framework of Multiple Indicators to Assess and Diagnose Causes and Sources of Impairments to Aquatic Assemblages in Selected Ohio Rivers and Streams
4. Using Biological Criteria for Establishing Restoration and Ecological Recovery Endpoints
5. Effects of Contaminated Dredge Spoils on Wetland Plant Communities: A Literature Review
6. Effects of Sediment Quantity on the Health of Aquatic Ecosystems: A Case Study on Depth of Fines in Coastal Plain Streams in Alabama
7. The Difficulty in Determining the Effects of Pesticides on Aquatic Communities
8. Ecological Effects of Metals on Benthic Invertebrates
9. A Method for Assessing Outfall Effects on Great River Fish Populations: The Traveling Zone Approach
10. Pioneer Species Metric Changes as a Result of Increased Anthropogenic Disturbance: Statewide Patterns and a Case Study of Four Ohio Streams
11. Correlation between Nutrient Stimulation and Presence of Omnivorous Fish along the Lake Erie Nearshore
12. Regional Ecological Normalization Using Linear Models: A Meta-Method for Scaling Stream Assessment Indicators
13. Fish and Benthic Macroinvertebrate Assemblages as Indicators of Stream Degradation in Urbanizing Watersheds
14. Conservatism of Confined Disposal Facilities Based on the Biological Stability and Integrity of Plant Communities: A Case Study in the Laurentian Great Lakes Basin
15. Macroinvertebrate Assemblages Associated with Patterns in Land Use and Water Quality
16. Effects of Metals on Freshwater Macroinvertebrates: A Review and Case Study of the Correspondence of Multimetric Index, Toxicity Testing, and Copper Concentrations in Sediment and Water
17. Relationships between Fish Assemblages and Organochloride Insecticides in Sediment and Fish Tissue in South Central Kansas
18. Effects of Silviculture on Indices of Biotic Integrity for Benthic Macroinvertebrate and Fish Assemblages in Northeastern Minnesota’s Northern Lakes and Forest Ecoregion (USA)
19. Biological Assessment of Mining Disturbance on Stream Invertebrates in Mineralized Areas of Colorado
20. Patterns in Water Quality and Fish Assemblages in Three Central Indiana Streams with Emphasis on Animal Feed Lot Operations
21. Response Signatures of Four Biological Indicators to an Iron and Steel Industrial Landfill
22. Response of Diatom Assemblages to Human Disturbance: Development and Testing of a Multimetric Index for the Mid-Atlantic Region (USA)
23. Response Patterns of Great River Fish Assemblage Metrics to Outfall Effects from Point Source Discharges
24. Evaluating the Effects of Thermal Discharges on Aquatic Life: Patterns in Multimetric Indices from Three Case Studies in Large and Great Rivers of the Midwestern United States
25. Assessing the Ecological Integrity of the East Branch of the Grand Calumet River: Responses of Four Biological Indicators
26. Variable Assemblage Responses

The use of environmental assessment procedures within monitoring frameworks demands that there be some relevancy to the decisions that management agencies make using biological criteria. These biological criteria standards are the basis for environmental indicators, which provide a direct measure of environmental quality. Biological Response Signatures: Indicator Patterns Using Aquatic Communities is the first book that evaluates the application of multimetric indices and biological indicators as endpoints in order to determine the relevancy of monitoring and evaluation programs in North America so that patterns in biological responses can be assessed. The text uses state-of-the-art diagnostic tools to evaluate patterns in multimetric indices relating to known point or non-point source impacts. It describes the results of years of biological indicator development. It attempts to evaluate the differences in biological integrity between natural and altered landscapes. In addition, the book expands the types of organism indicator groups that are being used for assessments to include diatoms, aquatic macrophytes, aquatic invertebrates, mussels, fish, amphibians, and birds. Contributors are among the top researchers and environmental biologists in North America and each provides their own perspective on current aspects of biological criteria implementation. The information contained in this text will appeal to a wide audience on the types of indicator chosen and the respective patterns among impacts discussed in the book. From the conceptual framework to the case studies, Biological Response Signatures will help readers better diagnose the stressors to biological communities and, thus, take actions to protect and restore water resources.