Title

Benthic Macroinvertebrate Fauna in Small Streams Used by Cattle in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia

Authors

Amy Braccia, Eastern Kentucky University
J. Reese Voshell, Virginia Tech

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-2006

Abstract

Cattle production is a common land use, and the adverse effects of cattle grazing on stream habitat and macroinvertebrates has been well docu-mented. The purpose of our study was to provide a list of taxa that can be expected to occur in small streams impacted by cattle in the southern Blue Ridge Mountains and to demonstrate how taxon-specific natural history information can be used to gain insight about benthic habitat condition. We identified 97 benthic macroinvertebrate taxa from five cattle-impacted streams that differed in cattle grazing intensity. Our findings suggest that some macroinvertebrate taxa can sustain low levels of cattle grazing and that sedimentation is a major stressor to the macroinvertebrate fauna.

Recommended Citation

Braccia, A., & Voshell, J. R. (2006). Environmental factors accounting for benthic macroinvertebrate assemblage structure at the sample scale in streams subjected to a gradient of cattle grazing. Hydrobiologia, 573(1), 55-73. doi:10.1007/s10750-006-0257-2