U.S. Environmental Protection Agency New England Region Boston, Massachusetts Ecological Characterization Of The Housatonic River Downstream of Woods Pond September 2002 Environmental Remediation Contract General Electric (GE)/Housatonic River Project Pittsfield, Massachusetts Contract No. DACW33-94-D-0009/032 www.woodlotalt.com Ecological Characterization Of The Housatonic River Downstream of Woods Pond September 2002 Prepared by Woodlot Alternatives, Inc. Topsham, Maine 04086 Prepared under EPA Contract No. DACW33-94-D-0009/032 with Weston Solutions, Inc. Prepared for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 1 Boston, Massachusetts TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Page SECTION I INTRODUCTION........................................................................................ I-0 1.0 Introduction........................................................................................................ I-1 1.1 Purpose of Report......................................................................................... I-1 2.0 Report Organization........................................................................................... I-2 3.0 Relationship to Previous and Ongoing Studies.................................................. I-2 4.0 Literature Cited .................................................................................................. I-4 SECTION II STUDY AREA DESCRIPTION................................................................. II-0 1.0 Introduction....................................................................................................... II-1 2.0 Land Use Patterns and Population Trends........................................................ II-1 2.1 Historical Land Use Patterns and Population Trends.................................. II-1 2.2 Current Land Use Patterns and Population Trends ..................................... II-2 3.0 Biophysical Setting........................................................................................... II-2 3.1 Climate ........................................................................................................ II-3 3.2 Geology ....................................................................................................... II-4 3.2.1 Regional Geological Setting................................................................ II-4 3.2.2 Bedrock Geology................................................................................. II-5 3.2.3 Glacial Geology................................................................................... II-7 3.2.4 Soils..................................................................................................... II-7 3.3 Hydrology.................................................................................................... II-8 3.3.1 Ground Water...................................................................................... II-8 4.0 Literature Cited ............................................................................................... II-10 SECTION III ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION.................................................III-0 Chapter 1 Natural Communities ...................................................................................1-1 1.0 Introduction........................................................................................................1-1 2.0 Methods .............................................................................................................1-3 2.1 Background ..................................................................................................1-3 2.2 Literature review ..........................................................................................1-3 2.3 Aerial Photograph Interpretation..................................................................1-4 3.0 Natural Community Descriptions ......................................................................1-4 3.1 Lacustrine Communities ..............................................................................1-4 3.2 Riverine Communities..................................................................................1-5 3.3 Palustrine Communities ...............................................................................1-8 3.4 Terrestrial Communities.............................................................................1-18 4.0 Developed Communities..................................................................................1-26 4.1 Agricultural Lands......................................................................................1-26 4.2 Residential, Commercial, and Public Development...................................1-27 4.3 Transportation ............................................................................................1-27 4.4 Recreational Facilities................................................................................1-28 5.0 Literature Cited ................................................................................................1-29 i TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Section Page Chapter 2 Macroinvertebrates.......................................................................................2-1 1.0 Introduction........................................................................................................2-1 2.0 Methods .............................................................................................................2-1 2.1 Species:Habitat Association.........................................................................2-1 2.2 Literature Review.........................................................................................2-1 3.0 Aquatic Macroinvertebrates...............................................................................2-2 3.1 Mussels.........................................................................................................2-2 3.2 Dragonflies and Damselflies ........................................................................2-7 3.3 Benthic Macroinvertebrates .......................................................................2-10 4.0 Rare, Threatened, and Endangered Macroinvertebrates..................................2-17 5.0 Literature Cited ................................................................................................2-25 Chapter 3 Fish...............................................................................................................3-1 1.0 Introduction........................................................................................................3-1 2.0 Methods .............................................................................................................3-1 2.1 Species:Habitat Association.........................................................................3-1 2.2 Existing Fisheries Data.................................................................................3-2 3.0 Fish Community Description.............................................................................3-5 4.0 Rare, Threatened, and Endangered Fish ............................................................3-6 5.0 Literature Cited ..................................................................................................3-8 Chapter 4 Reptiles and Amphibians .............................................................................4-1 1.0 Introduction........................................................................................................4-1 2.0 Methods .............................................................................................................4-1 2.1 Species:Habitat Association.........................................................................4-1 3.0 Reptile and Amphibian Community Descriptions.............................................4-2 3.1 Reptiles.........................................................................................................4-2 3.1.1 Lizards..................................................................................................4-2 3.1.2 Snakes...................................................................................................4-3 3.1.3 Turtles...................................................................................................4-5 3.2 Amphibians ..................................................................................................4-6 3.2.1 Toads and Frogs ...................................................................................4-7 3.2.2 Salamanders .........................................................................................4-9 4.0 Rare, Threatened, and Endangered Reptiles and Amphibians.........................4-14 4.1 Reptiles.......................................................................................................4-14 4.2 Amphibians ................................................................................................4-17 5.0 Literature Cited ................................................................................................4-21 Chapter 5 Birds .............................................................................................................5-1 1.0 Introduction........................................................................................................5-1 2.0 Methods .............................................................................................................5-1 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Section Page 3.0 Bird Community Description.............................................................................5-1