Suspended-sediment concentration regimes for two biological reference streams in Middle Tennessee
Journal of the American Water Resources Association
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Abstract
Temporal patterns of suspended-sediment concentration (SSC) duration and frequency (SSC regimes) were characterized and compared with biological impairment thresholds for two headwater streams in the Western Highland Rim of Tennessee. The SSC regimes were plotted as curves showing concentrations and durations of the annual longest and tenth-longest SSC excursions above 18 concentrations for water years 2005-2008 in Copperas Branch and water years 2006 and 2008 in Kelley Creek. Both streams have fish communities remarkably diverse for their small drainage basin areas (420 and 565 ha, respectively), and represent biological reference conditions with respect to SSC. SSC-regime curves were similar for the two sites across water years. The measured SSC regimes reached or exceeded published experimentally based SSC impairment thresholds and plotted below a proposed long-term SSC reference regime for the Interior Plateau ecoregion (Ecoregion 71), suggesting that neither the experimentally based thresholds nor the proposed SSC reference regime adequately reflect the relation between SSC and biological impairment for Western Highland Rim headwater streams. The SSC regimes of the two study streams were similar to the estimated SSC regime of an unimpaired East Tennessee trout stream. Additional field studies are needed to describe SSC regimes in streams of varying basin scale, level of impairment, and region.
Suggested Citation
Diehl, T.H., and Wolfe, W., 2010, Suspended-sediment concentration regimes for two biological reference streams in Middle Tennessee: Journal of the American Water Resources Association, v. 46, no. 4, p. 824-837, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-1688.2010.00460.x.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Suspended-sediment concentration regimes for two biological reference streams in Middle Tennessee |
| Series title | Journal of the American Water Resources Association |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2010.00460.x |
| Volume | 46 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Publication Date | July 26, 2010 |
| Year Published | 2010 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | American Water Resources Association |
| Publisher location | Middleburg, VA |
| Contributing office(s) | Tennessee Water Science Center |
| Description | 14 p. |
| Larger Work Type | Article |
| Larger Work Subtype | Journal Article |
| Larger Work Title | Journal of the American Water Resources Association |
| First page | 824 |
| Last page | 837 |
| Time Range Start | 2004-10-01 |
| Time Range End | 2008-09-30 |
| Country | United States |
| State | Tennessee |