science and policy research
aquatic habitat protection
 Trout Stream Buffer Study
Dr. Judy Meyer led this study, commissioned by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division in response to amendments made to Georgia's Erosion and Sedimentation Act by the General Assembly during the 2000 legislative session. Among other changes, the amendments reduced the minimum riparian forest buffer width on trout streams from 100 ft to 50 ft.
Etowah Regional
Aquatic Habitat Conservation Plan (external site)
The Etowah River Basin is a highly biodiverse and highly imperiled aquatic
ecosystem located just north of Atlanta, Georgia. Its precarious status
and diversity of fauna have made it an object of scientific research for
the last several decades. In recent years it has also become the focus
of conservation and management efforts designed to protect aquatic habitat
and prevent species extinctions.
Etowah Stressors Report
The purpose of this report is to help guide protection efforts through
(a) a review of the major threats or stressors to the sensitive aquatic
species in the basin; (b) a discussion of the tools that have been developed
to manage these threats; and (c) a presentation of potential stream bank
mitigation sites in the Upper Etowah.
Stressors to Imperiled Fishes in the Etowah Basin: Mechanisms, Sources and Management under the Etowah HCP, Feb. 1 2007, Seth Wenger and Mary Freeman (PDF)
Etowah River Basin Stressors
Analysis, July 5 2002, Byron Freeman, Seth Wenger, Sarah McClurg
and Carrie Straight (PDF, 6.5 MB)
Prepared for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Shoal Habitat Losses
Many fish and mussel species are only found in shoals on large rivers.
This habitat is now both rare and degraded as a result of large dams which
flood habitat upstream and radically alter flows downstream. Mary Freeman,
Bud Freeman and Mike Merrill are assessing the extent of these losses
in the Coosa River Basin and developing methods for assessing losses elsewhere
in the Southeast.
Status of the Robust Redhorse
The robust redhorse is a fish that was thought to be extinct before it
was re-discovered in the Oconee River in 1991. Bud and Mary Freeman study
the reproduction and habitat use of this endangered organism, and assess
the success of programs to augment wild populations with captive-bred
robust redhorse. Further information on the robust redhorse can be found
at www.robustredhorse.com
and at www.uga.edu/~brwa/brwa.fish.html.
Criteria
for Suitable Spawning Habitat for the Robust Redhorse Moxostoma robustum,
January, 2001, Byron J. Freeman and Mary C. Freeman (PDF, 50KB)
Report to the US Fish & Wildllife Service.
Identification of Restoration Opportunities in the Etowah Basin
Bud Freeman and Seth Wenger are working to identify streams in the Etowah
River Basin that would be good candidates for restoration.
Fishes of Georgia
Bud Freeman is in the process of compiling information for a comprehensive
volume on the natural history of native Georgia fish.
Research Staff
A full staff of field and laboratory researchersf support aquatic
habitat protection studies at the River Basin Center, performing field surveys, laboratory studies and data analysis and interpretation. Staff include laboratory manager Megan Hagler, database manager Carrie Straight, Post Doctoral researcher Seth Wenger, and graduate researchers Greg Anderson and Rachel Katz.
Other Research
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