Chris Patrick

Project Title: " Taking the large view: stream bio-monitoring and restoration with a landscape perspective."

External Partnership: The Nature Conservancy (Pennsylvania)

Currently, Piedmont area streams in the Mid-Atlantic United States are threatened by increasing urbanization.  Urbanization has detrimental effects on water quality resulting in changes to species assemblages.  Studying insect community changes in response to water quality impacts in the past can yield useful information for managing streams for the future.  In Chester County, Pennsylvania stream insect monitoring has been performed for nearly 40 years and span the recovery of 50 streams in 6 watersheds after the implementation of the clean water act.  Analyzing these monitoring data revealed that the stream communities recovered at very different rates and heterogeneity, or beta richness, of the assemblages declined.  Working with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the Chester County Water Resources Authority, the United States Geological Survey, and the Pennsylvania Nature Conservancy Chris has attempted to explain the variation in stream recovery rates, to determine the mechanism for beta richness decline, and has produced a standardized metric for monitoring beta richness. Results are now used to prioritize different stream restoration techniques and site selection to effect rapid recovery of native stream insect fauna.  Additionally, results from his study have provided information regarding legacy effects of environmental degradation prior to 1970 that will be incorporated into watershed recovery plans in Chester County.  The beta richness metric will has been implemented to inform managers about future changes to biodiversity patterns in Pennsylvania and may serve as an early warning system for biotic homogenization and landscape scale patterns of habitat change in the future.

Distinctive Outcomes: Chris Patrick is currently involved with TNC and the Pennsylvania DNR to monitor potential impacts on statewide water quality.