Human Influences of the River Continuum Concept: Impacts of Anthropogenic Watershed Development and Nutrient Sources -- in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Field Methods: Undisturbed streams with easy access from parallel trails and crossings within the Smoky Mt National Park will be sampled from headwater (1 or 2 order stream reaches) to main valley reaches (4th or 5th order streams) at sites determined to represent increasing stream orders and compared to natural and impacted streams and rivers surrounding Grandfather Mt State Park (e.g. Wilson Cr, S. Fork New River, N. Toe River, Watauga River) in northwestern North Carolina. At each sampling site, water chemistry parameters will be collected using mulitmeters and probes for pH, temp, conductivity, and DO. Water samples (250ml) will be collected and kept ice cold until returned to AppState where they will be analyzed for toxic metals by ICP-OES and anions (Chloride, sulfate, nitrate, phosphate) by ion chromatography. Aquatic insects will be collected by NC DWQ standard methods at stream sites and will be keyed out to family and genus (and species when possible) and used to determine stream scores, diversity indices, and % belonging to the trophic feeding guilds. We are still investigating appropriate streams within the park boundaries through discussions with park staff, but the following streams are being considered: Cataloochee Creek, Cosby Creek, Deep Creek, 20 Mile Creek, Oconaluftee River, Little River, Nolan, (off Blue Ridge Parkway) Buchannon Creek of N. Fork Catawba R., Wilson Creek (Pisgah Nat'l Forest) and West Prong Little Pigeon River. Method of access Roads that have stream crossings, or hiking trails that follow a good portion of the length of the streams. Samples will be collected by visual collections and kick seining ~30ft2 riffle habitats. No large stones will be moved in order to preserve aquatic habitat for salamanders (e.g. hellbenders). Use of waders and boots will not be used in summer collections in order to reduce possibility of introduction of invasive or nuisance species.

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    "title": "GRSM01271-PostedToDataStore20181017.zip",
    "format": "ZIP",
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    "description": "Water chemistry data and macroinvert data",
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                                            [
  "APHN",
  "Appalachian Highlands Network",
  "Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Freshwater Invertebrates",
  "GRSM",
  "Great Smoky Mountains National Park",
  "Origin:External",
  "SER",
  "Southeast Region",
  "StudyID:GRSM-01271"
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