Multi-Year Pre-Restoration Monitoring: Trends in Biological Communities in an Urban Stream and Insights into Post-Restoration Monitoring
Martha McCauley
EA Engineering, Science, and Technology, Inc., PBC
Hunt Valley, MD
Authors: Martha McCauley (EA), Michael Powell (EA), Jeremy Koser (JMT), Jim Morris (JMT), Josh Burch (DOEE)
Pre-construction biological and habitat assessments provide valuable insight to current environmental conditions within a targeted stream restoration reach. These baseline assessments additionally provide data for post-construction comparative analyses to evaluate biological uplift within the restored stream. Biological uplift has been challenging to document in stream restoration sites due to the time scale required for species establishment, the number and frequency of post-construction assessments, and financial support for pre- and post-construction monitoring, among other factors. Here we present findings from three rounds of Maryland Biological Stream Survey (MBSS)-style benthic and fish community assessment at Oxon Run, an urban stream near Washington, D.C., prior to the initiation of in-stream restoration construction. Findings from the baseline study revealed variability in species abundance, diversity, and overall MBSS Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) scores at each of the sampled locations for both benthic macroinvertebrates and fish. Overall scoring was Poor for benthics and ranged from Poor to Good for fishes. The multi-year baseline data set was investigated for temporal trends and potential application in predicting the number of post-restoration samples required to observe significant changes to evaluation metrics, such as the MBSS IBI. Historical data from publicly available sources, such as the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, are incorporated into the comparative analysis of the current data. These findings support the incorporation of pre-restoration biological monitoring into restoration planning for the development of post-restoration biological monitoring plans and for before-and-after style restoration comparisons.
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