Download The habitat condition data dictionary

The habitat condition data
dictionary
(and why it’s not a limiting factors data dictionary)
David E Hamm
Effective Habitat Restoration Has
Extensive Data Needs




Restoration planning requires habitat
information but planning is happening at a
larger scale than data collection
Assessing restoration effectiveness requires
knowledge of habitat condition before and
after restoration
Understanding the linkage between population
status and habitat condition
Understanding the linkage between restoration
projects and changes to habitat condition
We Need a Habitat Condition Data
Dictionary

These needs all necessitate the bringing
together of data on habitat condition
from diverse sources

Data dictionaries allow the collection and
standardization of data

They enforce the consistent use of
language

They specify data needs and data gaps
A Survey of Pre-Existing Lists and
Habitat Assessments




A bottom up approach
Surveyed limiting factor lists and habitat
descriptions from federal, state, tribal, county,
non-profit and for profit sources
Include all major habitat types in the Pacific
Northwest (Washington, Oregon, Idaho and
Northern California)
West and east side of the Cascade Mountains,
coastal watersheds, large rivers (Columbia) and
small tributaries in urban and rural watersheds
(not a lot is
there)
* Common to all li
Methow SubBasin P
Oregon Coast Co
Conservation Pla
QHA (Mobrand In
Puget Sound Recover
Upper Columbia Sal
Recovery Plan
L. Col. Subbasin pl
PCSRF
EDT (Mobrand In
Habitat Concern
Sub-Category
WCC LFA
Shared
Terms
Among
Limiting
Factor
Lists
Habitat
Concern
Category
Access
Hydromodification
Confinement
Filling
Dredging
Road Density
Key Habitat
Habitat/Stream
Complexity
Channel Stability
Floodplain Conditions
Sediment Conditions
Instream Habitat
Riparian Conditions
Water Quality
Water Quantity
Loss of Habitat Connectivity
Degraded Side-Channel
Habitat
Degraded or loss of
Wetlands
Sediment Quantity
Stream Bank Conditions
Sediment Size
Instream LWD
Pool Habitat
Habitat Diversity
LWD Recruitment
Riparian Condition
Temp.
O2
Water Quality
Turbidity
High flow
Low Flows
Toxic Contaminants
Water
Sediments
Food Web Alterations
Food
Species Interactions
Introduced Competitors and
Predators
Intraspecific Competition
Increased Native Predation
Pathogens
Poaching or
Harassment
Artificial Structures
Pocket Estuaries
Overhead Structures
*
What Did We Find?

Limiting factor lists mix ecological processes
operating over a wide variety of spatial and
temporal scales

Many assessments, very little current data

Assessments use one another as references,
repeating their findings

Majority of original information and analysis
was collected for other purposes

Circular references mask the paucity and
antiquity of the data on which assessments are
based
Why not a limiting factors data
dictionary?
Limiting Factors


Liebig’s law of the
minimum “growth of an
organism is controlled by
the scarcest resource, not
by the total of resources
available.”
Idea has been extended
to include the maximum
or minimum tolerance of
any environmental factor
for an organism
Why not a limiting factors data
dictionary?



Late 1980s, “limiting factors” was the basis of a
model for estimating the capacity of freshwater
habitat types for coho salmon
Other assessments do not follow the method of
Reeves et al.
Despite wide spread use of the term “limiting
factors,” there is no agreement on meaning or
what features qualify
Starting Fresh
Habitat Concern:
An environmental feature that reduces or
degrades the essential needs, causes
instantaneous mortality or approaches the
physiological tolerance limits for, a given
population

Use an explicit definition

Use a set of criteria for term membership

Eliminate very general and narrow categories
Limiting Factors
Habitat
Concern
ID Definition
Habitat-Spawning
and egg incubation
Habitat-Rearing
Sediment
Conditions
1
Physiological
Thresholds
Sample
fragment
of the
Habitat
Concern
Data
Dictionary
Reduction of the quantity
or quality of spawning
habitat due to changes to
the background (natural)
quantity, rate, and size of
sediment inputs to the
stream system.
Alternate Terms
Sediment, Stream
Spawning Habitat,
Beach Spawning
Habitat (lake),
Substrate, Benthic
Habitat
Habitat ConcernSub Category
ID
Definition
Alternate Terms
Decreased
Sediment Quantity
1
Decreased input of sediment to the
stream system.
Sediment Quantity, Substra
Scour, Entrenchment, Loss
Habitat
Increased Sediment
Quantity
2
Increases input of sediment to the
stream system.
Bank erosion, Sediment Qu
Substrate Quantity, Excessi
Sedimentation, Aggradatio
Sediment Size
Ratio
3
Changes to the size ratio (increases
or decreases) of sediment into the
stream bed.
Excess Fines, Embededne
Size Ratio
1
Direct exposure to toxic substance in
the water column.
Short-term Toxicity, Stormw
Discharge, Outfalls, Wastew
point Source Pollution, Spill
Debris, Point Source Pollut
Mercury
2
Toxics substances found in prey that
negatively affect salmon. Includes
persistent toxic substances that are
concentrated as they are consumed
and move to the next trophic level .
Bioaccumulation Toxicity, P
Oil, Organochlorides , Pest
Water
Direct Mortality
Toxic
Contaminants
2
Exposure to chemical
substances capable of
causing sub-lethal or
lethal impacts.
Pollution
Biota
Altered Primary
Productivity
Food*
Direct Mortality*
Food
Direct Mortality
3
4
Insufficient food for
salmonids.
Induced instantaneous
mortality.
Competition, Prey
Availability, Species Competition
Interactions
3
Predation
1
Pathogens
Access and
Availability
Habitat-Rearing
Habitat Quantity
and Quality
5
Insufficient quantity of total
habitat or habitat diversity
due to the loss of some
habitat types. Includes
habitat degradation (loss
of habitat services to
salmon) due to
simplification, loss of
habitat heterogeneity and
other structural changes.
Complexity,
Connectivity,
Access, Structure,
Simplification
2
Altered Prey
Species
Composition and
Diversity
Predation, Disease,
Species Interactions Anthropogenic
Mortality
Habitat-Spawning
and egg incubation
1
Morphological
Changes
Small-Scale
Alteration of ecological dynamics
affecting the quantity, quality and/or
species composition of phytoplankton
or detritus resulting in insufficient food
available for salmonids or prey
species.
Insufficient food due interspecific and
intraspecific (hatchery produced)
competition.
Alteration of ecological dynamics
affecting the species composition,
distribution or nutritional quality of
zooplankton, macroinvertebrates,
forage-fish or other prey resulting in
insufficient food for salmonids.
Introduced salmon predators or
changes to the habitat that increase
native predator numbers or increase
predator success.
Micro and Macro-Detrital In
Carcasses, Down-welling, O
Conditions, Detritus, Phytop
Hatchery Fish, Increased Na
Competitors, Invasive Spec
Species Diversity, Prey Spe
Abundance, Invasive Speci
Food Web Dynamics
Invasive/Exotic Fish or Inver
Predators
Native Fish, Native Bird, Na
Pinnipeds
Fishing, Poaching, Strandin
due to Instream Structures a
Take
2
The anthropogenic mortality which
reduces population viability.
3
Introduction of disease causing
organisms or parasites.
Disease, Sea Lice,
1
Loss of access to habitat and/or
habitat sub-types. Includes partial or
ephemeral barriers.
Access, Barriers, Access t
Channels, Flap Gates, Tida
Culverts, Obstacles
2
Alteration of large scale (whole
channel) landform and water body
morphological characteristics (e.g.
slope, depth, width, configuration,
profile, contours, slope, etc.) that
alters the circulation or flow of water,
profile, structure or variety of availa
Connectivity, Levees, Dike
sinuosity, Isolated Floodpla
Peripheral Habitat, Bank Ha
Channel Incision, Channeliz
Aggradation, Bed substrate
Armoring, Bridge Crossings
Confinement, Nearshore se
Alteration of small scale (within
channel) features, including organic
(e.g. LWD) or inorganic structures
LWD, Pools, Boulders, Ban
ha
nn
Ar el
Fo tif Mo
od icia di
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To We St cat
xi b A ruc ion
Sp c C lt tu
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Fl eci ont rat es
oo es a io
dp In min ns
R lai ter an
ip n a t s
ar C ct
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C n C di ns
ha o tio
nn nd ns
el itio
St ns
In
ab
st
re A ilit
am cc y
Se
di Wa H ess
Al me te ab
te n r Q ita
re t C u t
d o a
H nd lity
yd it
ro ion
gr s
ap
hy
C
Percent Compositon
Making a Pilot Database of Habitat
Condition
16
14
12
10
8
6
The spectrum of
need in the
Columbia-Cascade
Province
4
2
0
Habitat Concern
Habitat concerns can then be
mapped for analysis
5.0
4.5
2
R = 0.2045
4.0
A tool for
evaluating the
correspondence
between habitat
condition and the
number of
restoration
projects
Ln of Projects
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
0
5
10
15
20
Number of Habitat Concerns

Now have a tool to create a crosswalk to the
project database
Conclusion




Restoration of salmonid populations is dependent
on the actions and information of many parties
Data dictionaries can be used to synthesize data
from diverse sources and do novel analysis at
larger scales
Continued use of the term “limiting factor” hampers
both assessment and analysis
We hope the data dictionary can be of use to others
or act as an example of how to integrate ecological
data from diverse sources
The Habitat Concerns Data
Dictionary
Habitat Concern
Habitat Quantity
Direct Mortality
Toxic
Contaminants
ID Definition
1
2
3
Insufficient quantity of total
habitat or habitat diversity
due to the elimination of
access
Induced instantaneous
mortality.
Exposure to chemical
substances capable of
causing sub-lethal or
lethal impacts to
individuals or offspring.
Alternate Terms
Connectivity,
Access, Structure,
Simplification,
Availability
Predation, Disease,
Species Interactions
Habitat ConcernSub Category
Anthropogenic
Barriers
ID Definition
1
Loss of access to habitat and/or habitat
sub-types due to anthropogenic
activity. Includes partial or ephemeral
barriers.
Lasting natural barriers to stream or
estuary access, including waterfalls,
sand bars, log jams, sufficiently steep
gradients or insufficient water. May
represent the end of good quality
habitat
Introduced salmon predators or
changes to the habitat that increase
native predator numbers or increase
predator success.
Introduction of disease causing
organisms or parasites.
Natural Barriers
2
Predation
1
Pathogens
2
Water
1
Direct exposure to toxic substance in
the water column.
2
Toxics substances found in prey that
negatively affect salmon. Includes
persistent toxic substances that are
concentrated as they are consumed
and move to the next trophic level .
Pollution
Biota
Habitat Concern
ID Definition
Alternate Terms
Habitat ConcernSub Category
Altered Primary
Productivity
Food
4
Insufficient food for
salmonids.
Competition, Prey
Availability, Species Competition
Interactions
Altered Prey
Species
Composition and
Diversity
Riparian
Condition
5
Degradation of the habitat
adjacent to streams, rivers,
lakes and nearshore
environments. Impairment
of the near-bank
environment to support
plants including large trees
that help stabilize stream
banks, provide shade, add
primary production to the
aquatic ecosystem and
Riparian Condition
ID Definition
1
2
3
1
Disturbance to streamside ecological
relationships, including but not limited
to, loss of flora, erosion and increased
light and temperatures
2
Loss of mature streamside trees that
may become instream structures and
associated decline in habitat
complexity
Impaired Riparian
Function/Condition,
microclimate, lack of
shade
LWD Recruitment
Alteration of ecological dynamics
affecting the quantity, quality and/or
species composition of phytoplankton
or detritus resulting in insufficient food
available for salmonids or prey
species.
Insufficient food due interspecific and
intraspecific (hatchery produced)
competition.
Alteration of ecological dynamics
affecting the species composition,
distribution or nutritional quality of
zooplankton, macroinvertebrates,
forage-fish or other prey resulting in
insufficient food for salmonids.
Habitat Concern
Peripheral Habitat
Channel Structure
and Form
ID Definition
6
7
Loss and degradation of
relatively flat peripheral
habitat of streams and
rivers that is periodically
inundated during high
flows. Includes associated
sloughs, side-channels,
and freshwater wetlands
important for rearing.
Includes factors that
contribute to multiple
limiting factors
Changes to River, Stream,
Lake. Estuarine tributary
and Distributary channel
form, causing bedload
movement including the
loss (scour) or fill
(aggradation) of the
channel and associated
loss of spawning habitat,
disruption to passage and
loss of instream ecosystem
function
Alternate Terms
Habitat ConcernSub Category
1
Loss and degradation of sidechannels, associated sloughs and
freshwater wetlands important for
rearing. Includes loss of connectivity
Floodplain Condition
2
Loss and degradation of relatively flat
peripheral habitat of streams and rivers
that is periodically inundated during
high flows. Includes loss of connectivity
due to anthropogenic alterations
Esturary Conditions
3
Loss and degradation of saltwater
transition zone
1
Changes to River, Stream, Lake.
Estuarine tributary and Distributary
channel form, causing bedload
movement including the loss (scour) or
fill (aggradation) of the channel and
associated loss of spawning habitat,
disruption to passage and loss of
instream ecosystem function
2
Decline of the instream habitat quality.
Based on the degree of habitat
complexity and variety, includes the
quantity and variability of stream depth
and pools of varying size and depth.
Side Channel and
Wetland Conditions
High quality overwinter rearing
habitat, Habitat
Diversity, (Key)
Habitat
Quantity/Quality,
Refugia Habitat
ID Definition
Channel Conditions, Bed and Channel
Form
Channel Form,
Channel
morphology,
Channel Instability,
Channel Stability,
Loss of Spawning
Substrate due to
high flow, Bedload
Instream Structural
Movement
Complexity
Habitat Concern
Sediment
Conditions
Water Quality
ID Definition
8
9
Reduction of the quantity
or quality of spawning
habitat due to changes to
the background (natural)
quantity, rate, and size of
sediment inputs to the
stream system.
Degraded chemical,
physical, and biological
characteristics of water
with respect to its suitability
for a salmon, excluding
toxins and pathogens.
Alternate Terms
Sediment, Stream
Spawning Habitat,
Spawning Gravel,
Beach Spawning
Habitat (lake),
Substrate, Benthic
Habitat
Habitat ConcernSub Category
ID Definition
Decreased
Sediment Quantity
1
Decreased input of sediment to the
stream system.
Increased Sediment
Quantity
2
Increases input of sediment to the
stream system.
Temperature
1
Water temperature deviations, either in
intensity or duration, sufficient to have
adverse effects on listed salmonids
Oxygen
2
Turbidity
3
pH
4
Salinity
5
Oxygen concentration deviations
sufficient to induce adverse effects in
listed salmonids.
Increased concentrations of
suspended fine particulate matter
sufficient to have adverse effects in
listed salmonids, including reduction of
their foraging ability and/or degradation
of ecosystem function.
Acidity/alkalinity deviations sufficient to
adversely effect salmonids or the
species on which they feed.
Salinity at concentrations harmful to
salmon
Habitat Concern
ID Definition
Alternate Terms
Habitat ConcernSub Category
Increased Water
Quantity
Water Quantity
Detrimental effects of
deviations to the
background (natural)
10 amount and timing of water
quantity instream, including
lowered water quality and
barriers to access.
Changes in Flow
Regime, Spring
Freshets, Piped
Outfalls of Surface
and Ground Water,
Withdrawals, FlowRelated Plume
Changes
Decreased Water
Quantity
Altered Flow Timing
ID Definition
1
Habitat disturbance associated with
abnormally (compared to background)
high water flow and increased
"flashiness", including loss of channel
substrate and the flushing of young fish
downstream.
2
Habitat disturbances associated with
abnormally (compared to background)
low water flow, including but not limited
to, increased temperature, loss of
sediment, nutrients and barriers to
passage and redd dewatering.
3
Habitat changes associated with
alterations to the background (natural)
timing of water quantity instream.
Restoration Project X
Habitat Concern
Crosswalk
Project Type_Sub-Type
Barrier Removal_Culvert Improvements/Upgrade
Barrier Removal_Culvert Installation
Barrier Removal_Culvert Removal
Barrier Removal_Culvert Replacement
Barrier Removal_Dam Removal
Barrier Removal_Push-up dam/Diversion dam removal
Barrier Removal_Fish By-pass
Barrier Removal_Fish Ladder
Barrier Removal_Fish Ladder Improved
Barrier Removal_Fish Ladder Installed
Barrier Removal_Log Jam/Debris Removal
Barrier Removal_Other
Barrier Removal_Tidegate
Barrier Removal_Weir
Diversion Screens_Fish screen
Diversion Screens_Fish screen replacement
Sediment Reduction_Erosion Control Structures
Sediment Reduction_Other
Sediment Reduction_Road Closing/Abandonment
Sediment Reduction_Road Drainage
Sediment Reduction_Road Relocation
Sediment Reduction_Rocked Ford
Sediment Reduction_Sediment Traps
Restore Stream Complexity-Channel Complexity_Bank
Habitat
Quantity
1
Anthropog
Natural
enic
Barriers
Barriers
1.1
1.1
1.1
1.1
1.1
1.1
1.2
Direct
Mortality
2
1.1
1.1
1.1
1.1
1.1
1.2
1
1.1
1.1
2
2
Predation Pa
2.1
40
35
No. of Projects
30
25
20
Broad
Narrow
15
10
Imprecise, Inaccurate
or overly general
habitat categories
will introduce even
greater uncertainty
5
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Percent Approriate Projects
80
70
No. of Projects
60
50
Broad
40
Narrow
30
20
10
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Percentage LFs Addressed
80
90
100
Crosswalks can be
highly sensitive: