BIOTIC COMPARISON OF THREE STREAM SYSTEMS OF THE SHILOH
NATIONAL MILITARY PARK

Laurie H. Hart and Jack W. Grubaugh
Department of Biology, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152

To be effective, stream biomonitoring and restoration programs require an
understanding of the biotic assemblage of natural stream systems within the
region to serve as a reference condition or targeted endpoint.  However, 100
years of cotton agriculture and timber harvest throughout West Tennessee have
greatly impacted virtually all streams within this region.  One exception is the
small stream systems associated with the Shiloh battlefield, which have been
protected since the early 1890s.  Focusing on three, third-order systems which
lie entirely within park boundaries, we are surveying the fish community and
collecting bimonthly qualitative and quantitative samples of the benthic
macroinvertebrates.  Biotic assemblages are very similar among streams, and
thus far 50 fish species and over 70 macroinvertebrate genera have been
identified for Shiloh. These results may provide useful information on aquatic
community composition of relatively unimpacted stream systems in West
Tennessee.

Keywords:  biomonitoring, macroinvertebrate, fish, southern stream ecosystems,
biotic integrity


Correspondence to:

Laurie M. Hart
Department of Biology
The University of Memphis
Memphis, TN  38152
T:  (901) 678-3325
F:  (901) 678-4746
E:  lahart@cc.memphis.edu

I prefer a platform session (2(2" slides).

This is a student-authored paper.