24 PARK SCIENCE • VOLUME 27 • NUMBER 2 • FALL 2010

Science Notes UNIVERSITY OF OF UNIVERSITY [Etheostoma percnurum]) and six mussels (the Underwater video habitat mapping Cumberland elktoe [Alasmidonta atropurpurea], at Obed Wild and Scenic River purple bean [Villosa perpurpurea], Cumberland bean [Villosa trabalis], Cumberlandian combshell [Epioblasma brevidens], tan riffl eshell [Epioblasma fl orentina walker], and littlewing pearlymussel [Pegias fi bula]).

Ayers developed the underwater video mapping system (UVMS) to examine submerged ecosystems and record their locations. The system incorporates three Ocean Systems, Inc., DropShot underwater video cameras; a Garmin 18 diff erentially corrected Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver; a Red Hen Systems, Inc., video mapping system (VMS) 200, which integrates GPS locations with video; By Paul D. Ayers and Jeff Hughes three Sony digital video recorders; a pair of under- water laser pointers (20 mW, 635 nm); and a depth Figure 1. Researcher sonar transducer (fi g. 2). Two DropShot underwater Ayers and a graduate RESOURCE MANAGERS AT OBED WILD AND cameras are fl ush-mounted to the bottom and side student map Clear Creek, Obed Wild and Scenic Scenic River are striving to understand the eff ects of of the kayak hull; the third camera is mounted to River, using the under- growing human population on the park’s water- the bow to acquire above-water video (fi gs. 3 and 4). water video mapping system. shed. As in much of the country, human population The GPS receiver is a 12-channel, high-performance is increasing on the of Ten- unit that uses a system of satellites and ground- nessee, where the wild and scenic river is located. based stations to provide better location accuracy Managers are concerned that development associ- than satellites alone. The video recorders save the ated with population growth may signifi cantly alter geo-referenced video locations from the VMS the fl ow regime and water quality of portions of the 200. The laser pointers, also fl ush-mounted to the Obed River, Daddy’s Creek, and Clear Creek in the kayak, produce two dots on the substrate to provide park. They have begun to study the potential im- a scale to determine substrate size (see fi g. 2). Sonar pacts of development on park hydrology and water- measures river depth. related resources. Recently they initiated research to determine the location and amount of riverine Ayers has previously conducted UVMS research habitat available for aquatic species in the park. that used underwater technology on a canoe and outboard motor boat at Biscayne National Park Paul D. Ayers, professor at University of Tennessee, (Florida), (Tennessee), Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil and in Molokai (Hawaii). The customized kayak Science, is leading the project and has surveyed UVMS apparatus used at Obed Wild and Scenic the entire 45 miles (72 km) of Obed River, Clear River, however, was more compact and, overall, the Creek, and Daddy’s Creek within the park (fi g. 1). kayak protected sensitive equipment from harsh He is assembling the complete river system map in environmental conditions very eff ectively (see fi g. a Geographic Information System (GIS) format for 3). The kayak-based system proved its durability and use by the (NPS) for general navigational precision in shallow, narrow channels river management, determining areas of impact and swift water (see fi g. 1). from development, and identifying resource values and habitat of endangered species. The federally Researchers analyzed video footage for substrate, listed endangered and threatened species under river characteristics, river depth, and embedded- the scope of this research include three fi shes (the ness of the substrate in developing maps of optimal spotfi n chub [Erimonax monachus], blackside dace habitat for the threatened and endangered fi sh and [Phoxinus cumberlandensis], and dusktail darter mussel species (fi g. 5). SCIENCE NOTES 25

UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE (3)

Figure 3 (left). Underwater camera and laser point- ers are embedded into the bottom of the kayak where they are well protected.

Figure 4 (above). The above-water camera in front of the kayak cap- tures images of river characteristics.

Figure 2. Schematic of the kayak-based underwater video mapping system.

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Habitat mapping has become an eff ective tool con- tributing to aquatic conservation and management. Compared to traditional river surveying methodol- ogies, the underwater video mapping system invites management awareness of habitat that is usually out of sight. It provides for management recommenda- tions on a large scale but with zoom-in capabilities 0 2,500 5,000 10,000 Meters to assess microhabitat.

Acknowledgments Collaborators for this and other NPS projects are Rebecca Schapansky ( Obed Wild and Scenic 1,000 500 0 1,000 990 495 0 990 1,000 500 0 1,000 Meters Meters Meters River), Steve Bakaletz (Big South Fork National Physical habitat suitability Habitat suitability for spotfin chub Physical habitat suitability model River and Recreation Area), and Matt Kulp (Great Optimal (27–34) Erimonax monacha M + D + S + E = HSI (M): 6 = run, 2 = riffle, 0 = pool Suboptimal (21–26) (M): Macrohabitat (pool/riffle/run) (D): 6 = 0–1.6 ft, 4 = 1.61–2.6 ft, Smoky Mountains National Park). The NPS Water (D): Depth Marginal (15–20) 1 = 2.61–5.0 ft, 0 = >5.0 ft (S): Substrate Resources Division, Natural Resource Program (S): 10 = bedrock/boulder, 5 = cobble, Submarginal (7–14) (E): Embededness Unsuitable (0–6) 1 = gravel, 0 = fines Center, funded the project and provided expertise (E): 12 = 20, 8–15, 4 = 10, 5 = 0 HSI: 0–34 on water rights issues. Figure 5. One of the maps produced from the research was this one of Clear Creek that shows the habitat suitability transitions for spotfi n chub within Obed Wild About the authors and Scenic River. Paul D. Ayers is a professor of engineering in the Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He can be reached at [email protected]. Jeff Hughes is a hydrologist with the NPS Natural Resource Program Center, Water Resources Division, in Fort Collins, Colorado. He can be reached at jeff_hughes@ nps.gov.