An Overview of Cesium-137 Contamination in a Southeastern Swamp Environment

Abstract In the early 1960s, an area of privately owned swamp adjacent to the Savannah River Site (SRS) was contaminated by site operations

Impact of Forest Seral Stage on use of Ant Communities for Rapid Assessment of Terrestrial Ecosystem Health

Bioassessment evaluates ecosystem health by using the responses of a community of organisms that integrate all aspects of the ecosystem. A variety of bioassessment methods have been applied to aquatic ecosystems; however, terrestrial methods are less advanced. The objective of this study was to examine baseline differences in ant communities at different seral stages from clear cut to mature pine plantation as a precursor to developing a broader terrestrial bioassessment protocol. Comparative sampling was conducted at nine sites having four seral stages: clearcut, 5 year recovery, 15 year recovery, and mature stands. Soil and vegetation data were also collected at each site. Ants were identified to genus. Analysis of the ant data indicated that ants respond strongly to habitat changes that accompany ecological succession in managed pine forests, and both individual genera and ant community structure can be used as indicators of successional change. Ants exhibited relatively high diversity in both early and mature seral stages. High ant diversity in mature seral stages was likely related to conditions on the forest floor favoring litter dwelling and cold climate specialists. While ants may be very useful in identifying environmental stress in managed pine forests, adjustments must be made for seral stage when comparing impacted and unimpacted forests

Estimating Fish Species Richness across Multiple Watersheds

Assessing fish species richness at the scale of an entire watershed or multiple watersheds is important when designing conservation areas and maintaining aquatic biodiversity. Estimating biodiversity at this scale requires considering the effects of habitat heterogeneity within and across drainages on the species-area relationship (SAR). I examined the SAR using unusually complete data to assess fish species richness in minimally disturbed watersheds on large public lands in the Sand Hills ecoregion, southeastern United States of America (USA). My objectives were to compare (1) true richness with estimates produced by different species richness estimators and sampling designs and (2) species richness among reservations. Accurate estimates were obtained for five contiguous watersheds (780 km2 total) by using Chao 2 or first-order jackknife estimators, coupled with (1) a stratified design that apportioned sampling effort over 25 sample sites based on major spatial correlates of assemblage composition, including stream size and drainage basin identity and (2) sufficient sampling effort to collect enough individuals to include rare species. The greatest species richness was in streams within a large land holding characterized by greater instream habitat diversity, less disturbed land coverage, more forested land, and closer proximity to source pools than other reservations. Species richness in these streams was within the range observed in high diversity Neotropical and Indomalayan realms

Macroinvertebrate Taxonomic Richness in Minimally Disturbed Streams on the Southeastern USA Coastal Plain

Collections made over 20 years with a multiple habitat sampling protocol and Hester–Dendy artificial substrate samplers were used to assess macroinvertebrate genera richness in first- to fourth-order streams on the Savannah River Site (SRS), a 780-km2, U.S. government reservation on the upper South Carolina, USA, coastal plain. We collected 312 genera representing 114 families including 268 genera and 87 families of insects. The total number of genera from each stream averaged 139 (97–194) with totals of 171–261 for drainages with more than one stream. Larger streams supported more macroinvertebrate genera, but small headwater streams supported genera not found in higher-order streams and contributed to drainage-wide richness. Sampling effort expressed as number of individuals collected or sites sampled and sampling duration influenced genera richness more than other factors. Genera accumulation curves showed that full representation of richness required several years of sampling and the inclusion of sampling sites that represented all habitats. Upper Three Runs, known for high insect species richness, was the most genera-rich stream, but richness was nearly comparable in other streams after adjusting for sampling effort. Some SRS streams are minimally exposed to anthropogenic disturbance, making them relatively unique in the southeastern USA Sand Hills and valuable as reference models

Aggregated Transfer Factors For Small Mammals Collected From the Exposed Sediments Of A 137 Cs Contaminated Reservoir

{sup 137}Cs transfer factors were computed for small mammals collected from the dried sediment areas of a partially drained, contaminated reservoir. Soil {sup 137}Cs concentrations were heterogeneous on small and large spatial scales, with a geometric mean of 253.1 Bq/kg dry weight. About 50% of the variance in cotton rat Sigmodon hispidus tissue {sup 137}Cs levels was explained by variation in soil {sup 137}Cs levels. Soil to animal transfer factors (whole body dry weight) averaged 6.0 for cotton rats and 1.2 for cotton mice Peromyscus gossypinus. These values are similar to {sup 137}Cs transfer factors for herbivorous, homeothermic animals from other contaminated ecosystems. Site-specific transfer factors can significantly affect the estimation of dose. In the RESRAD-BIOTA dose model, the default transfer factor for {sup 137}Cs in terrestrial animals is 110 resulting in an estimate of radiation dose to terrestrial biota that is 16 times more than the dose calculated with the actual measured transfer factor

Legacy Disturbances and Restoration Potential of Coastal Plain Streams

Proceedings of the 2011 Georgia Water Resources Conference, April 11, 12, and 13, 2011, Athens, Georgia.Stream restoration and enhancement provides opportunity to correct or improve previous alterations that have destroyed, diminished, or impaired the character and function of stream systems. The Savannah River Site (SRS) as a National Environmental Research Park operated by the Department of Energy provides an ideal research opportunity for restoration of coastal plain streams. The temporal range of disturbances to SRS streams span the range of pre-SRS legacy impacts through the early infrastructure development in the early 1950's to more recent and current industrial activities. A multiphase program has been established to characterize SRS streams, identify risks of legacy and recent disturbances, and identify disturbed stream reaches improvable by restoration. Phase I involves a broad scale survey of potential stream disturbances and stream basin characterization. Phase II, initiated in 2010, assesses the effects of stream alterations in a subset of Phase I identified streams. Stream hydrology, geomorphology, and habitat availability at the reach, segment and basin level are being assessed. The proposed Phase III project will further evaluate a select subset of stream reaches by measuring additional hydrology, physicochemistry, and geomorphology features. This thorough stream evaluation will guide prescription of restorative actions. Future phases will implement and monitor enhancement and restoration efforts.Sponsored by: Georgia Environmental Protection Division U.S. Geological Survey, Georgia Water Science Center U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Water Resources Institute The University of Georgia, Water Resources FacultyThis book was published by Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-2152. The views and statements advanced in this publication are solely those of the authors and do not represent official views or policies of The University of Georgia, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Georgia Water Research Institute as authorized by the Water Research Institutes Authorization Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-307) or the other conference sponsors

Use of fish community data to evaluate restoration success of a riparian stream.

Abstract From 1985 to 1988, stream and riparian habitats in Pen branch and Four Mile branch began recovering from deforestation caused by the previous release of hot water from nuclear reactors. The Pen branch corridor was replanted with wetland trees in 1995 to expedite recovery and restore the Pen branch ecosystem. Pen branch, Four Mile branch, and two relatively undisturbed streams were electrofished in 1995:1996 to determine how fish assemblages differed between the previously disturbed and undisturbed streams and whether such difference could be used to measure restoration success in Pen branch. Fish assemblages were analyzed using nonparametric multivariate statistical methods and the index of biotic integrity (IBI), a bioassessment method based on measurement of ecologically sensitive characteristics of fish assemblages. Many aspects of fish assemblage structure (e.g. species richness, disease incidence, taxonomic composition at the family level) did not differ between disturbed and undisturbed streams; however, the disturbed streams were characterized by higher densities of a number of species. These differences were successfully detected with the multivariate statistical methods; whereas, the IBI did not differ between most recovering and undisturbed sampling sites. Because fish assemblages are strongly influenced by instream habitat, and because instream habitat is strongly influenced by the riparian zone, fish assemblages can be used to measure restoration success. Nonparametric ordination methods may provide the most sensitive measure of progress towards restoration goals, although the IBI can be used during early stages of recovery to indicate when certain ecologically important aspects of structure and function in recovering streams have reached levels typical of undisturbed streams

ECOLOGICAL ENGINEERING

www.elsevicr.com/locate/ecoleng Use of fish community data to evaluate restoration success of a riparian strea