A landscape assessment and associated dataset of stream confluences for the conterminous U.S.

Stream confluences are important components of fluvial networks. Hydraulic forces meeting at stream confluences often produce changes in streambed morphology and sediment distribution. These changes often increase habitat heterogeneity relative to upstream and downstream locations, which have led some to identify them as biological hotspots.

Multi-scale landscape factors influencing stream water quality in the state of Oregon.

Enterococci bacteria are used to indicate the presence of human and/or animal fecal materials in surface water. In addition to human influences on the quality of surface water, a cattle grazing is a widespread and persistent ecological stressor in the Western United States. Cattle may affect surface water quality directly by depositing nutrients and bacteria, and indirectly by damaging stream banks or removing vegetation cover, which may lead to increased sediment loads.

Watershed vulnerability predictions for the Ozarks using landscape models.

Forty-six broad-scale landscape metrics derived from commonly used landscape metrics were used to develop potential indicators of total phosphorus (TP) concentration, total ammonia (TA) concentration, and Escherichia coli bacteria count among 244 sub-watersheds of the Upper White River (Ozark Mountains, USA). Indicator models were developed by correlating field-based water quality measurements and contemporaneous remote-sensing-based ecological metrics using partial least squares (PLS) analyses. The TP PLS model resulted in one significant factor explaining 91% of the variability in surface water TP concentrations.