Optimal sampling effort to inform the index of biotic integrity in the Huron-Erie Corridor Areas of Concern / Meagan M. Kindree, Jason Barnucz and Nicholas E. Mandrak.: Fs97-4/3205E-PDF

"The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) provided the basis to identify 43 areas within the Great Lakes basin and international portion of the St. Lawrence River as Areas of Concern (AOC). The Detroit and St. Clair rivers, the riverine portion of the Huron-Erie Corridor (HEC), were designated as AOCs due to the degradation of ecological communities and resulting loss of human benefits. In particular, the loss of fish and wildlife habitat since European settlement in the area raised concerns about the structure and composition of the fish community. Implementation of Remedial Action Plans required aquatic monitoring of AOCs using the Index of Biotic Integrity, a multimetric index using fishes as a proxy for habitat condition. To develop a sampling protocol for future fish community assessment in the HEC, IBIs were calculated for each site in both rivers annually, seasonally, and between gear types (boat electrofishing and trawling). The resulting site IBI scores for each level of organization were then used in a resampling procedure to calculate the corresponding reduction in IBI score variance relative to a maximum value with an increase in the number of sites sampled (from 1 to100 sites, with replacement). On average sampling 2.5 sites reduce the variance in the IBI scoreby 50% relative to the maximum relative variance. The current number of sampling sites in both rivers reduced the variance in the IBI compared to the relative maximum variance by 75%. On average, an additional two sampling sites in each river would reduce the variance by 90%; therefore, adding two sites to each river is recommended for future monitoring of the HEC AOCs. Finally, the IBI scores in both rivers demonstrate a poor to fair habitat condition, which emphasizes the need for continued monitoring of habitat condition at regular intervals"--Abstract.

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