Combining Data to Assess of the Habitat Suitability of Patches of Streambed (original) (raw)

Abstract

Many of the aquatic animals that live in cave streams are threatened, endangered, or endemic. Management plans needed to conserve the aquatic ecosystems within which these animals live must be based on an understanding of the food webs, life histories, and habitat suitability. However, for many of these ecosystems, there is very little information about the food webs, life histories, or habitat suitability. If information is available, that information is frequently incomplete. One aspect of habitat suitability is the stability of the streambed sediment. Sediment that can be scoured over a wide range of hydrologic conditions is not suitable habitat as scour events disrupt the streambed sediment resulting in dispersal or possibly death of the animals; whereas, sediment that cannot be scoured would be suitable habitat. Assessing sediment stability requires hydrologic and sedimentologic data and assessing habitat suitability requires population consensus data. Rarely are the three disp...

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