Development of a reference coastal wetland set in Southern New England (USA).

Various measures of plants, soils, and invertebrates were described for a reference set of tidal coastal wetlands in Southern New England in order to provide a framework for assessing the condition of other similar wetlands in the region. The condition of the ten coastal wetlands with similar hydrology and geomorphology were ranked from least altered to highly altered using a combination of statistical methods and best professional judgment. Variables of plants, soils, and invertebrates were examined separately using principal component analysis to reduce the multidimensional variables to principal component scores.

The influence of suburban land use on habitat and biotic integrity of coastal Rhode Island streams.

Watershed land use in suburban areas can affect stream biota through degradation of instream habitat, water quality, and riparian vegetation. By monitoring stream biotic communities in various geographic regions, we can better understand and conserve our watershed ecosystems. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between watershed land use and the integrity of benthic invertebrate communities in eight streams that were assessed over a 3-year period (2001-2003).

Influence of salinity and organic carbon on the chronic toxicity of silver to mysids (Americamysis bahia) and silversides (Menidia beryllina).

Tests were conducted with mysids (Americamysis bahia) and silversides (Menidia beryllina) to evaluate the influence of salinity and organic carbon on the chronic toxicity of silver. During 7- and 28-d tests conducted at 10, 20, and 30% per hundred salinity, higher concentrations of dissolved silver generally were required to cause a chronic effect as the salinity of the seawater was increased. The 28-d mysid and silverside 20%-effective concentration values (expressed as dissolved silver) ranged from 3.

Effects of habitat disturbance from residential development on breeding bird communities in riparian corridors.

This study assessed the relationship among land use, riparian vegetation,and avian populations at two spatial scales. Our objective was to compare the vegetated habitat in riparian corridors with breeding bird guilds in eight Rhode Island subwatersheds along a range of increasing residential land use. Riparian habitats were characterized with fine-scale techniques (used field transects to measure riparian vegetation structure and plant species richness) at the reach spatial scale,and with coarse-scale landscape techniques (a Geographic Information System to document land-cover attributes) at the subwatershed scale.