Effects of Urbanization on Stream Ecosystems

Responses of benthic macroinvertebrates to environmental changes associated with urbanization in nine metropolitan areas

By Thomas F. Cuffney, Robin A. Brightbill, Jason T. May, and Ian R. Waite

Major Findings

Place matters: response to urban development depends on the region of the country

A stream’s physical, chemical and biological characteristics will respond to changes in both urban and natural characteristics. Ecoregions reflect differences in climate, geology, natural vegetation, and historical land use patterns and provide a template that is more important for determining the overall composition of stream biota than the level of urban development. For example, when invertebrate community data from all 265 study watersheds from the nine studies were analyzed together, the most striking result was that the watershed-specific macroinvertebrate community composition scores did not group together by level of urban development, but by ecological region.

Major Findings

Related Links

Suggested Citation

Cuffney, T.F., Brightbill, R.A., May, J.T., and Waite, IR., 2010, Responses of benthic macroinvertebrates to environmental changes associated with urbanization in nine metropolitan area, Ecological Applications, 20(5): 1384–1401.

U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/urban/html/pubs/invert2010.html
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