quantitative analyses of periphyton biomass and ... - SUNY Oneonta

Objectives
The four objectives of this study were:
1. To determine if streams flowing through agricultural
areas have higher nutrient concentrations than streams
f!owing through forested arisas.
2. To determine if streams with high concentrations of
nutrients support high periphyton biomass.
3. To characterize the streams in the Otsego Lake
Watershed based on nutrient concentrations and similar
taxa present.
4. To identify any impacts the streams may have on the
water quality of Otsego Lake.
METHODS
Selection and Characterization of Streams
There are over 20 streams tributary to Otsego Lake. Nine were chosen
for this study because they represent the diversity of streams present in the
Otsego Lake watershed and they flow throughout the year (Albright 1992). The
Susquehanna River, the outlet from Otsego Lake, was also chosen to study.
Stream diversity, for selection purposes, refers to the course of a stream flowing
through either agricultural, forested, or urban areas and over limestone or shale
bedrock. Criteria used to define a stream as agricultural, forested, or urban
were the acreage of land use categories in the streams' basins and the yearly
average nutrient concentrations.
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