Developed by Dr. Catherine Riseng and Dr. Mike Wiley (University of Michigan)

Overview

Use this model to determine how close your watershed is to tipping points in the future by examining the health of organisms living in your streams. Because these organisms are an important food source and are sensitive to pollution and habitat modification, the health of benthic communities is a strong indicator of overall stream health.

Features

• Visualize the health of individual stream segments in your watershed
• Learn about the land uses that impact sensitive aquatic invertebrates, which act as indicators of water quality
• Save and print maps and data for planning and decision making

About the Model (6:17)

Additional Information

The model uses three land use stressors (percent urban, percent suburban, and percent agricultural land within a 150 meter buffer) as indicators of stream health. 

Publications

1. Baker, E. A., Wehrly, K. E., Seelbach, P. W., Wang, L., Wiley, M. J., & Simon, T. (2005). A Multimetric Assessment of Stream Condition in the Northern Lakes and Forests Ecoregion Using Spatially Explicit Statistical Modeling and Regional Normalization. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 134(3), 697-710. doi:10.1577/t03-205.1
2. Riseng, C. M., Wiley, M. J., Seelbach, P. W., & Stevenson, R. J. (2010). An ecological assessment of Great Lakes tributaries in the Michigan Peninsulas. Journal of Great Lakes Research, 36(3), 505-519. doi:10.1016/j.jglr.2010.04.008
3. Wiley, M. J., Seelbach, P. W., Wehrly, K. E., & Martin, J. S. (2003). Regional ecological normalization using linear models: a meta-method for scaling stream assessment indicators. In: Simon, T.P. (Ed.), Biological Response Signatures: Indicator Patterns Using Aquatic Communities. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, pp. 201-223.

Research Presentations

“Land Use Tipping Points in Midwestern Streams” - Dr. Mike Wiley, University of Michigan 9/26/13 – Stream Biodiversity and Health Indicators Webinar Series

Tool Screenshots