All spatial data for the Indicators Project has been collected and data summarization is approximately 95 percent complete. Twelve of the 36 Minnesota watersheds were chosen for high-resolution mapping of riparian areas. Photos for all 12 areas have been scanned, rectified, interpreted, and digitized. Riparian habitats summaries for these areas are nearly complete. Physical, Chemical, and Biological Sampling.
All field sampling is now complete.
All physical, chemical, and biological samples have been processed and all data has been entered into computer databases. We are now analyzing all aspects of our data. Some of our preliminary results for macroinvertebrates and fish are as follows. We hypothesize that differences between regions in underlying geology and land use history are responsible for differences in the relative importance of reach-scale factors. Results for MI streams agree with our previous work in the region, in which strong hierarchical relationships exist among macroinvertebrates, physical variables at the reach scale, and watershed characteristics.