To learn the structure, composition and classification of aquatic ecosystems. To learn field and laboratory techniques used in the study and analysis of aquatic systems.
Allan, J.D. 1995. Stream Ecology, structure and function of running waters. Chapman & Hall.
Barnes, R.S.K. and K.H. Mann. 1991. Fundamentals of Aquatic Systems. Blackwell Scientific Publications.
Brower, J., J Zar and C. von Ende. 1990. Field and Laboratory Methods for General Ecology. Wm. C. Brown Publ.
Chapman, D. 1992. Water Quality Assessments, a guide to the use of biota, sediments and water in environmental monitoring. Chapman & Hall.
Cole, G.A. 1983. Textbook of Limnology. Mosby Co.
Cuffney, T.F., et al. 1993. Methods for Collecting Benthic Invertebrate Samples as a Part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program. U.S. Geological Survey, Open File Report 93-406.
Cuffney, T.F., et al. 1993. Guidelines for the Processing and Quality Assurance of Benthic Invertebrate Samples Collected as a Part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program. U.S. Geological Survey, Open File Report 93-407.
Cummins, K.W. 1973. Trophic relations of aquatic insects. Ann Rev. Entomol. 18: 183-206.
Cummins, K.W. and M.J. Klug. 1979. Feeding ecology of stream invertebrates. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 10: 147-172.
Hauer, F.R. and G.A. Lamberti. 1996. Methods in Stream Ecology. Academic Press.
Hilsenhoff, W.L. Using a biotic index to evaluate water quality in streams. Tech. Bull. No. 132.
Hynes, H.B.N. 1970. Ecology of Running Water. Liverpool University Press.
Karr, J.R., et al. 1986. Assessing biological integrity in running waters a method and its rationale. INHS Special Publ. 5.
Kentucky Division of Water. 1993. Methods for Assessing Biological Integrity of Surface Waters. Water Quality Branch, Frankfort, KY, 1993.
Kentucky Division of Water. 1997. Reference reach fish community report. Water Quality Branch, Frankfort, KY.
Kentucky Division of Water. 1998. Master species list: aquatic macroinvertebrates
Klemm, D.J., et al. 1990. Macroinvertebrate Field and Laboratory Methods for Evaluating the Biological Integrity of Surface Waters. U.S. E.P.A., Cincinnati, OH (Publ No. EPA/600/4-90/030).
Lenat, D.R. 1993. A biotic index for the southeastern United States: derivation and list of tolerance values, with criteria for assigning water-quality ratings. J. Am. Benthol. Soc. 12: 279-290.
Lenat, D. 1994. Revision of the North Carolina biotic index. North Caroliona.
Loeb, S.L. and A. Spacie. Biological monitoring of aquatic systems. Lewis Publishing.
Meador, M.R., et al. 1993. Methods for Sampling Fish Communities as a Part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program. U.S. Geological Survey, Open File Report 93-104.
Meador, M.R., et al. 1993. Methods for Characterizing Stream Habitat as a Part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program. U.S. Geological Survey, Open File Report 93-408.
Merritt, R.W. and K.W. Cummins. 1984. An Introduction to the Aquatic Insects of North America. Kendall-Hunt Publ.
Minshall, G.W. , et al. 1992. Stream ecosystem dynamics of the Salmon River, Idaho: an 8th order system. J. N. Am. Benthol. Soc. 11: 111-137.
North Carolina Division of Environmental Management. 1995. Standard operating procedures biological monitoring. 39pp.
Plafkin, J.L, et al. 1989. Rapid Bioassessment Protocols for Use in Streams and Rivers; Benthic Macroinvertebrates and Fish. U.S. E.P.A., Cincinnati, OH (Publ No. EPA/440/4-89/001).
Porter, S.D., et al. 1993. Methods for Collecting Algal Samples as a Part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program. U.S. Geological Survey, Open File Report 93-409.
Resh, V. and D. Rosenberg. 1984. The Ecology of Aquatic Insects. Praeger, New York.
Rosenberg, D. and V. Resh. 1993. Freshwater Biomonitoring and Benthic Macroinvertebrates. Chapman Hall Publ.
Rosgen, D. 1994. Applied River Morphology. Private Publication.Stevenson, R.J., M.L. Bothwell and R.L. Lowe. 1996. Algal Ecology, freshwater benthic ecosystems. Academic Press.
The Nature Conservancy (TNC). 1996. A classification framework for freshwater communities.
The Nature Conservancy. 1998. Rivers of Life: critical watersheds for protecting freshwater biodiversity. The Nature Conservancy, 71 pp.
Vannote, R. et al. 1980. The river continuum concept. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 37: 130-137.
Wallace, J.B., J.R. Webster and W.R. Woodall. 1977. The role of filter feeders in flowing water. Arch. Hyydrobiol. 79: 506-532.
Williams, D.D. 1984. The hyporheic zone as a habitat for aquatic insects and associated arthropods.
A. Hydrological Cycle, (Allan, Chp.1; Barnes and Mann, Chp 1)
B. Properties of Water (Allan, Chp.1; Barnes and Mann, Chp 1)
C. Stream and Lake Systems (Barnes and Mann; Chp 5 & 12)
D. Basic Freshwater Ecology
E. Classification of Streams
C. Materials in Streams and Lakes
A. Composition of Natural Waters
B.Carbon Dioxide System, pH, Acidity, Alkalinity (Cole, Chp 12)
C. Dissolved Gases (Cole, Chp 11)
D. Sampling Techniques
A. Classification of communities (see Cole, Chp3)
B. Bacteria
C. Algae (Hynes, pp. 52-77; Stevenson, et al. Chp. 1)
D. Macrophytes (Hynes, pp. 52-77; Stevenson, et al. Chp. 1)
E. Zooplankton (Hynes, pp. 94-111)
F. Benthic macroinvertebrates (Hynes, pp. 112-299)
G. Fishes (Hynes, pp. 300-376)
A. Adaptations to aquatic life (Merritt and Cummins; Chp 5)
1.Adapting to the current (Hynes, Chp 8)
2.Adapting to low oxygen (Merritt and Cummins; Chp 4)
3. Feeding adaptations (Hynes, Chp 10; Merritt and Cummins, Chp 6)
B. Feeding Ecology of Aquatic Organisms (Cummins, 1973; Cummins and Klug, 1979; Barnes and Mann, Chp 10; Allan, Chp. 6, 7 & 8)
C. Life History Strategies (Merritt and Cummins, Chp 5; Resh and Rosenberg, Chp 3 & 4)
1. Voltinism
2. Resting Stages
3. Phenology
4.Factors Influencing Life Histories
D. River Continuum Concept (Vannote, et al. 1980; Resh and Rosenberg, Chp 6)
E. Special Aquatic Habitats(Hynes, Chp 21)
F. Drift (Hynes, Chp 13; Resh and Rosenberg, Chp 5, Allan, Chp. 10)
A. History of Biomonitoring (Rosenberg and Resh, Chp. 2; Loeb and Spacie, Chp 1, 2, 3, 4 & 16)
B. Methods of Biomonitoring(Klemm, et al., 1990; Kentucky Division of Water (KDOW), 1993; Plafkin, et al., 1989; Hauer and Lamberti, 1996)
1.Quality Assurrance and Quality Assessment (Cuffney, et al., 1993)
2.Characterizing Stream Habitat (KDOW, 1993; Meador, et al., 1993)
3.Macroinvertebrate Sampling (Cuffney, et al., 1993; KDOW, 1993; Hauer and Lamberti Chp 16; Rosenberg and Resh Chp 6; Loeb and Spacie Chp 6, 7, 8 & 11)
4.Fish Sampling (KDOW, 1993; Meador, et al., 1993; Hauer and Lamberti, Chp 18; Loeb and Spacie Chp 10)
5.Algal Sampling (KDOW, 1993; Porter, et al., 1993)
C. Quantitative Approaches (Rosenberg and Resh, Chp 5; Loeb and Spacie Chp 5)
1.Species Diversity Indexes (Brower, et al., Unit 5)
a.Shannon-Wiener
b.Simpson's
c.Others
2.Community Similarity Indexes (Brower, et al, Unit 6)
a.Sorenson's and Jaccard's
b.Proportional Similarity Index
c.Morisita's Index
C. Rapid Bioassessment Approaches [Qualitative and Semiqualitative] (Rosenberg and Resh, Chp. 6)
1.Macroinvertebrates
a.Ohio EPA
b.U.S. EPA Protocols (I,II,III) (Plafkin, et al., 1989; Klemm, et al., 1990)
c.Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity (B-IBI) (Kerans and Karr, 1994)
d.Hilsenhoff Method (Hilsenhoff, 1982)
e.Modified Hilsenhoff (Lenat, 1993)
2.Fish
a.Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) (KDOW, 1993; Karr, et al. 1986; KDOW, 1997)
b.U.S. EPA Protocol IV (Plafkin, et al., 1989)
3.Algae (KDOW, 1993)
This course will have minimal organized laboratory sessions as such. The majority of the students time will be spent doing a research project. The class will act as a research team and will participate in all aspects of the study. The project will result in a paper to be written by each student. It will be done in the style of a paper to be published in the Journal of the North American Benthological Society (A copy of its requirements will be given to each student). This project will give each student a knowledge of what is entailed in an aquatic ecology research project. Each student will also learn various field and laboratory techniques that aquatic biologists use. An outline of how this project will progress during the semester is as follows:
I. Research Proposal
II. Review of the Literature
III. Planning the work
a. Logistics
b. Determining collecting site(s)
c. Techniques to be used
d. Equipment and supply needs
e. Collection times
IV. Research Objectives (What you want to accomplish)
a. Biological Analysis
b. Chemical Analysis
c. Physical Analysis
V. Analysis of Data and Writing of Paper
1.RESEARCH PROPOSAL and LITERATURE REVIEW- due February 21. This will be worth a total of 100 points. Guidelines will be given to each student.
2.FIELD WORK- End of February and beginning March through April.
4.COMPLETED PAPER- due last class period (April 25). It will be worth 200 points. The paper will be graded on style, grammar and appearance as well as content.
There will be three lecture exams, each will have equal weight. The exams will be on the following dates: Feb. 14 and April 11 (these two will be during the scheduled lab periods); the final will be May 2. The research project will be graded as outlined above. The research project will be worth a total of 300 points (ie. the equivalent of 3 exams). The grading scale is 89.5-100 = A; 79.5-89.4 = B; 69.5-79.4= C; 59.5-69.4=D; below 59.4=F.
MIDTERM GRADES:
The midterm grade is an average of the scores of the work that have been done up to that date.
The policy is that which is prescribed to by the Department. That is a 20% absenteeism will result in automatic failure of the course.