Inventory of Biological Investigations Related to Stream Water Quality in the South Platte River Basin, Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming

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Ortiz -Zayas (1993). In addition, other agencies, such as the Colorado Division of Wildlife, Colorado Water Resources Research Institute, U.S. Environmental Pro- tection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Reclamation, Great Plains Library, and universities were contacted to amend and update the reference list. Individual scien- tists conducting biological studies in the South Platte River Basin also were contacted to update the reference list through 1994. Experts in the different categories of biology (algae, invertebrates, fish, habitat characteriza- tion, and chemicals in organism tissue) reviewed this bibliography to determine if there were obvious omis- sions. References include published and unpublished reports and books, master's theses and doctoral disser- tations, conference proceedings, and journal articles. Omitted are publications in press, book reviews, and abstracts. Description of Study Area The South Platte River Basin drains about a 24,300- square -mile area and includes parts of three States -- Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming (fig. 1). There are two major physiographic provinces (Lobeck, 1922), the Southern Rocky Mountains and the Great Plains. The primary river in the basin, the South Platte River, originates in the mountains of central Colorado and flows about 450 mi northeast across the Great Plains to its confluence with the North Platte River in Nebraska. From the mountains to the plains, the South Platte River and its tributaries cross a transitional zone along the foothills. Streams are characterized as cold -water streams in the mountains and as warm - water streams in the plains. A detailed description of the basin environmental setting is reported in Dennehy and others (1993). Acknowledgments The authors wish to thank April Kobayashi and Joyce Dickey, U.S. Geological Survey, for their efforts in conducting a bibliographic search of data bases and retrieval of references. Additionally, we thank John W. Martin and Richard Sojda of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for their assistance in providing additional references missed by the com- puterized search. We thank Kenneth Bazata, Kevin Bestgen, Boris Kondratieff, Kurt King, and John Woodling for reviewing the bibliography for completeness. We thank K.F. Dennehy, L.F. Carter, and R.M. Goldstein for their critical review of the manuscript. INVENTORY OF BIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS Biological investigations that relate to water quality in the South Platte River Basin were grouped into five categories corresponding to the biological components of the NAWQA program: algae, inverte- brates, fish, habitat characterization, and chemicals in organism tissue (table 1). Biological investigations also were categorized according to their site location in the two physiographic provinces or in the transition zone between the mountains and plains because dis- tinct biological communities are associated with the mountain and the plains streams (Dennehy and others, 1993). A general overview of the major biological communities associated with the mountain and plain streams in the South Platte River Basin is reported in Dennehy and others (1993, table 8, p. 676). Algal Communities There were a total of eight investigations refer- enced between 1974 and 1987 that included algal infor- mation (table 1). Six of those studies were located in the mountains, one study was in the mountains and transition zone, and one study was in the plains. Algal investigations included five studies examining the effect of reservoirs on algae (Ward, 1976; Gray and Ward, 1982; Cline and Ward, 1984; Zimmerman and Ward, 1984; Dufford and others, 1987), two studies collecting baseline information on algal communities ( Galat and McConnell, 1974; Ward, 1986), and one study examining the effect of highway construction on algae (Cline and others, 1982). There is an information gap for algae throughout the basin, particularly in the plains. Invertebrate Communities There were a total of 43 investigations that included invertebrate information. Seven investiga- tions included sites in the mountains and plains, 26 included sites in the mountains, 3 included sites located in the mountains and transition zone, 1 included sites in the transition zone and plains, and 6 included sites in the plains (table 1). The invertebrate investigations included 27 studies on basic information about invertebrates or baseline information on inverte- brate distribution (Mecom, 1972; Galat and McCon- nell, 1974; Ward, 1975, 1984; Bauman and others, 1977; Kodadek, 1978; Ward and Short, 1978; Molnar and Lavigne, 1979; Short and others, 1980; Short and Ward,1980a,b; Short, 1983; Ruiter and Lavigne, 1985; 2 Inventory of Biological Investigations Related To Stream Water Quality in the South -Platte River Basin, Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming, 1891 -1994