Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining Impacts on Structural and Functional Indicators in Central Appalachian Streams

Mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR) has been a major source of landscape change in the Central Appalachians of the United States (US). Changes in stream hydrology, channel geomorphology and water quality caused by MTR coal mining can lead to severe impairment of stream ecological integrity. The objective of the Clean Water Act (CWA) is to restore and maintain the ecological integrity of the Nation’s waters. Sensitive, readily measured indicators of ecosystem structure and function are needed for the assessment of stream ecological integrity. Most such assessments rely on structural indicators; inclusion of functional indicators could make these assessments more holistic and effective. The goals of this study were: (1) test the efficacy of selected carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling and microbial structural and functional indicators for assessing MTR coal mining impacts on streams; (2) determine whether indicators respond to impacts in a predictable manner and (3) determine if functional indicators are less likely to change than are structural indicators in response to stressors associated with MTR coal mining.

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