ContDataQC: An R package and Shiny app for quality control of continuous water quality sensor data.

The ContDataQC R package is a free, open-source tool that was developed to help water quality monitoring programs perform quality control (QC) procedures on continuous sensor data. ContDataQC helps users speed up and standardize the QC process, minimize undetected data errors, and make full use of their sensor data. It has three main functions: generate QC reports to detect anomalies and erroneous data values, merge QC'd data files from different time periods, and generate time series plots and basic summary statistics.

Improved thermal preferences and a stressor index derived from modeled stream temperatures and regional taxonomic standards for freshwater macroinvertebrates of the Pacific Northwest, USA.

Benthic macroinvertebrate taxa vary in their sensitivities to water quality and habitat conditions, contributing to their extensive use as ecological indicators. As climate change and landscape alteration increasingly impact stream temperatures, interest is growing in expanding our knowledge of how macroinvertebrates are affected by current and future thermal conditions. Using samples from 3501 sites, we evaluated relationships between macroinvertebrate taxa and modeled stream temperatures across Oregon and Washington, in the U.

Effects of extreme high flow events on macroinvertebrate communities in Vermont streams.

Heavy precipitation events and subsequent high flows are occurring with greater frequency and intensity, which could have substantial implications for biomonitoring programs that typically evaluate changes in biological condition due to stressors at local and watershed scales. In this study we evaluated response and recovery of macroinvertebrate communities at nine reference quality streams located in multiple watersheds throughout Vermont to flooding from Tropical Storm (TS) Irene in 2011. At each site, the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (VT DEC) had collected macroinvertebrate data on an annual basis from 2009-2013.

Limitations of trait-based approaches for stressor assessment: The case of freshwater invertebrates and climate drivers.

The appeal of trait-based approaches for assessing environmental vulnerabilities arises from the potential insight they provide into the mechanisms underlying the changes in populations and community structure. Traits can provide ecologically based explanations for observed responses to environmental changes, along with predictive power gained by developing relationships between traits and environmental variables. Despite these potential benefits, questions remain regarding the utility and limitations of these approaches, which we explore focusing on the following questions: (a) How reliable are predictions of biotic responses to changing conditions based on single trait-environment relationships? (b) What factors constrain detection of single trait-environment relationships, and how can they be addressed? (c) Can we use information on meta-community processes to reveal conditions when assumptions underlying trait-based studies are not met? We address these questions by reviewing published literature on aquatic invertebrate communities from stream ecosystems.

A REVIEW OF WATER QUALITY RESPONSES TO AIR TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION CHANGES 1: FLOW, WATER TEMPERATURE, SALTWATER INTRUSION.

Anticipated future increases in air temperature and regionally variable changes in precipitation will have direct and cascading effects on U.S. water quality.

A REVIEW OF WATER QUALITY RESPONSES TO AIR TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION CHANGES 2: NUTRIENTS, ALGAL BLOOMS, SEDIMENT, PATHOGENS.

In this paper we review the published, scientific literature addressing the response of nutrients, sediment, pathogens and cyanobacterial blooms to historical and potential future changes in air temperature and precipitation. The goal is to document how different attributes of water quality are sensitive to these drivers, to characterize future risk, to inform management responses and to identify research needs to fill gaps in our understanding. Results suggest that anticipated future changes present a risk of water quality and ecosystem degradation in many U.