South Carolina\u27s Probability Based Approach for Assessing Water Quality and Estuarine Condition using Integrated Indices

2008 S.C. Water Resources Conference - Addressing Water Challenges Facing the State and Regio

South Carolina\u27s Probability Based Approach for Assessing Water Quality and Estuarine Condition using Integrated Indices

2008 S.C. Water Resources Conference - Addressing Water Challenges Facing the State and Regio

Technical Report No. 1008-19

This monitoring strategy establishes the overall goals and objectives for those key elements of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control water quality monitoring program to achieve the goals of the South Carolina Pollution Control Act. This monitoring strategy document also serves as the Quality Assurance Project Plan for the ambient surface water quality monitoring program

Technical report no. 021-2020

This monitoring strategy establishes the overall goals and objectives for those key elements of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control water quality monitoring program to achieve the goals of the South Carolina Pollution Control Act. This monitoring strategy document also serves as the Quality Assurance Project Plan for the ambient surface water quality monitoring program

Prey of reintroduced fishers and their habitat relationships in the Cascades T Range, Washington

Conservation and recovery of forest carnivores requires an understanding of their habitat requirements, as well as requirements of their prey. In much of the western United States, trapping and habitat loss led to extirpations of fishers (Pekania pennanti) by the mid-20th century, and reintroductions are ongoing to restore fishers to portions of their former range. Fisher recovery in Washington State has been limited by isolation from other populations, but other potentially important factors, such as diet of fishers in this region and prey availability, have not been thoroughly investigated. We collected hair samples from potential prey and fishers for stable isotope analysis to identify important prey items for fishers within a reintroduction area in southern Washington. We then estimated the abundance of prey species at 21 sites across a gradient of forest structural classes within the fisher reintroduction area, and assessed the effects of forest age and vegetation on the prey community using permutational multivariate analysis of variance and non-metric multidimensional scaling. Stable isotopes revealed that larger prey items, including snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) and/or mountain beavers (Aplodontia rufa), were the most important prey item(s) for fishers in the southern Cascades. We found distinct but equally diverse prey communities in old-growth (unmanaged) and young (heavily managed) forest stands, with snowshoe hares and mountain beavers most common in young forests, while chipmunks (Neotamius spp.) and small mammals were more common in older forests. Our results suggest a discrepancy between the habitats where important fisher prey are most abundant and habitat requirements of fishers. Snowshoe hares and mountain beavers were most abundant in young forests, whereas fishers are associated with landscapes dominated by older forest stands or those that provide large woody structures, which fishers use for denning and resting. Our results add to growing evidence that forest landscape mosaics provide valuable habitat for fishers in the Pacific Northwest, suggesting that both mature and younger forest stands are important for fishers and fisher recovery

Intra-annual and ecoregional differences in physico-chemical data between blackwater and non-blackwater streams in the coastal plains of South Carolina

In the coastal plains of southeastern United States, blackwater streams are relatively common. In South Carolina, many naturally occurring blackwater streams have been identified over decades of water monitoring, particularly when they fail to meet water chemistry expectations originally set based on non-blackwater streams. The South Carolina Department of Environmental Services has collected extensive, often monthly, water chemistry data from both blackwater and non-blackwater systems throughout the Southeastern Plains (SEP) and Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain (MACP) ecoregions. Using these data, we compared seasonal patterns in water chemistry parameters between blackwater and non-blackwater streams. Examining monthly patterns between ecoregions and between site types (blackwater vs. non-blackwater), we observed that pH, total alkalinity, and total phosphorus often differed by both ecoregion and site type. For many parameters, however, differences between ecoregions were stronger than any differences by site type. This work has identified certain parameters that can distinguish blackwater from non-blackwater streams, but it has also shown that blackwater streams, even within one state, are not a monolith. They vary based on the underlying characteristics of the broader region in which they are located. The results of this research are relevant to the entire SEP and MACP ecoregions which jointly include parts of 11 U.S. states. Results are likely relevant to other blackwater rivers and streams in the contiguous United States and other blackwater systems globally, but the extent of relevance will require additional research. From a management perspective, this research has demonstrated that the Omernik Level III ecoregions offer a scale-appropriate means of grouping relatively similar blackwater systems conducive to management. The framework of ecoregions also supports collaborative exchange of information across political boundaries. This includes the exchange of information globally among entities with homologous ecoregions

State of South Carolina monitoring strategy for calendar year 2019

This monitoring strategy establishes the overall goals and objectives for those key elements of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control water quality monitoring program to achieve the goals of the South Carolina Pollution Control Act. This monitoring strategy document also serves as the Quality Assurance Project Plan for the ambient surface water quality monitoring program