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Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index. Bradley Hansen John Nieber Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering For BBE 4535/5535 Fall 2011. Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI). The QHEI was developed by the Ohio EPA for assessment of habitat loss due to sediment - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index
Bradley HansenJohn Nieber
Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering
For BBE 4535/5535Fall 2011
Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI)
• The QHEI was developed by the Ohio EPA for assessment of habitat loss due to sediment
• It can evaluate whether habitat is a limiting factor for a fish community, and which factors are the likely stressors
• It can also help determine both the source of the sediment and the effects on the stream
• Correlated to fish IBI scores
Consists of 6 Metrics• Substrate• Instream Cover• Channel Morphology• Riparian Zone and Bank Erosion• Pool – Riffle Quality• Map Gradient
Metric 1: Substrate• Type• Quality
Substrate
Not embedded Embedded
Riffle
Pool
Riffle
Pool
Pool
None Low Moderate Extensive
Metric 2: Instream Cover• Type• Amount
Instream Cover
Metric 3: Channel Morphology
• Sinuosity – number of bends in the reach• Development – pool-riffle complex• Channelization – human made channel
modifications• Stability – bank and channel stability
Channel Morphology
stability channelization
Pool/Riffle Development
Metric 4: Riparian Zone and Bank Erosion• Width
– Floodplain • Quality
– Landuse• Bank Erosion
– Stability
Riparian Zone
Metric 5: Pool-Riffle Quality• Max. DepthPool and Riffle• CurrentVelocity estimate• MorphologyPool-Riffle width
Pool-Riffle Quality
Metric 6: Map Gradient• Channel slope - Measure stream lengthbetween two contoursdivide by contourinterval
Map Gradient
Individual metrics
Score
Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index• It can evaluate whether habitat is a
limiting factor for a fish community, and which factors are the likely stressors
• It can also help determine both the source of the sediment and the effects on the stream