Identifying High-Quality Streams in the Hudson River Valley to Assess Watershed Resiliency and Support Conservation and Management Priority Setting

Summary

The primary objective of the project was to assemble available biodiversity data and develop fine-scale predictive models for water quality metrics, macroinvertebrate biodiversity, freshwater mussels, and rare species for all stream reaches in the Hudson River Valley. Because not all stream reaches in the Valley have been surveyed, we used distribution models to predict species richness and water quality scores. As part of the project we piloted an outreach and citizen science effort in Rensselaer County, working with the Rensselaer Land Trust to employ our data in their conservation decision-making and engage them in the process of stream quality assessment in the field, which also served to validate our modeled data. Project deliverables included compiled biodiversity data, spatial model predictions, field results, and a final report. These spatial data layers will help all Estuary Program partners interested in conservation, restoration, management, and outreach activities as they relate to stream quality and resilience.