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About the Authors:
Allison H. Roy
* E-mail: [email protected]
Affiliation: U. S. Geological Survey, Massachusetts Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, United States of America
Lee K. Rhea
Affiliation: U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States of America
Audrey L. Mayer
Affiliation: School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science and Department of Social Sciences, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan, United States of America
William D. Shuster
Affiliation: U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States of America
Jake J. Beaulieu
Affiliation: U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States of America
Matthew E. Hopton
Affiliation: U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States of America
Matthew A. Morrison
Affiliation: SABIC, Mt. Vernon, Indiana, United States of America
Ann St. Amand
Affiliation: PhycoTech, Inc., St. Joseph, Michigan, United States of America
Introduction
Rapid urbanization and the ongoing conversion of landscapes from natural habitats to industrial, commercial, and residential land uses to support a growing human population remain the most salient threats to natural ecosystems [1]–[3]. Aquatic ecosystems that drain urban areas are particularly vulnerable due to their low position in the landscape [4]. In most urban and suburban areas, untreated stormwater runoff from impervious surfaces is typically routed directly into rivers, lakes, and oceans. This conventional design of urban drainage systems reflects concerns about human health and safety, but largely ignores threats to aquatic ecosystem health that stem from stormwater runoff [5], [6].
The urban stream syndrome describes changes in stream ecosystems associated with urbanization, a subject that has been increasingly studied in the last few decades (see reviews by [7]–[9]). These changes primarily arise from stormwater runoff from impervious cover—particularly impervious cover that is directly connected to streams by stormwater pipes [6]— which alters stream hydrology, water chemistry, and biotic communities. High magnitude, flashy flows in urban streams can scour stream beds and erode stream banks, thus reducing habitat quality. Furthermore, the extreme high flows can wash out aquatic biota and low lying riparian vegetation, whereas reduced base flows can reduce in-stream habitat and alter stream ecosystem function [10]. Runoff that enters urban and suburban...