Stream Buffer Effectiveness: Macroinvertebrate and Amphibian Species as Bioindicators of Ecosystem Stress, Coastal Plain, Georgia (Graduate Project)

Research Team: Tara K. Muenz (Graduate Student), Dr. Stephen W. Golladay (Associate Scientist), Dr. Lora L. Smith (Assistant Scientist), and George Vellidis (Univeristy of Georgia)

Intensive agricultural land use continues to be a major contributor of non-point source (NPS) pollution to Georgia's streams and rivers, associated with over 60% of reported waterway problems. Degradation of waterways will continue unless appropriate management techniques are employed which incorporate both practical and economical considerations for producers. Conservation buffers are one strategy adopted by various federal and state agencies to aid in the reduction A stream choked with sediment in an unbuffered area. of agricultural impacts on surface and ground water systems. Conservation buffers are small areas or strips of land permanently maintained in vegetation designed to intercept pollutants and manage other environmental concerns such as habitat degradation. While many people often think of buffers only in terms of common streamside buffers (filter strips and riparian buffers), the range of practices is far more extensive, including upland practices such as grassed waterways, field borders, contour grass strips, windbreaks and shelterbelts. Coupled with effective agricultural practices and successful maintenance, conservation buffers have proven to reduce agricultural impacts on adjacent streams. The Georgia Stream Buffer Initiative, a statewide interagency partnership, was created with the purpose of increasing buffer awareness and understanding among Georgia landowners, while accelerating the adoption of conservation buffers across the state. T A stream draining a buffered area. he Initiative is based on education and Best Management Practice (BMP) implementation and demonstration, of which monitoring of water and wildlife is a critical component. A diversified row crop and beef cattle operation located on a tributary of the Lower Chattahoochee River in Early County, southwest Georgia, is the selected demonstration site for this study. The objectives of this project encompass two facets of effective conservation: 1) to provide a characterization of attributes specific to a region and production system and, 2) to progress one step further, the education and dissemination of this information to the landowners. It is predicted that when demonstration, education, and monitoring efforts are combined, they will serve to improve water quality through reductions in NPS water pollution. A comparison of benthic macroinvertebrate and salamander communities between buffered and unbuffered streams is underway.

Research in progress, publications forthcoming.

Funded by: The Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center and the National Environmentally Sound Production Agriculture Laboratory (NESPAL)