Multi-Scalar Land Cover Influences on Benthic Invertebrate Assemblages in Agricultural Streams. F.B. Daniel, M.B. Griffith, M.E. Troyer, and J.E. Lazorchak Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH 45268

The northern half of the Little Miami River watershed (LMRW) was graded by the Wisconsinan glacier; the southern half lies beyond the glacier terminus and is set in an older, Illinoisan landscape. Benthic invertebrates were collected in 35 headwater streams (sub-watersheds) in the LMRW for four consecutive years and the land cover was quantified at three spatial scales (the catchment, the riparian corridor, and sampled reach) for each sub-watershed. In the northern sub-watersheds (N=19) a significantly greater percentage of land surface is committed to row crop agriculture and significantly lesser percent is covered in permanent grasses or forest relative to those in the south (N=16). Analysis of the invertebrate samples showed that Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) constituted a significantly greater proportion of those assemblages collected from the southern sub-watersheds compared to those from the northern section In contrast, Coleoptera (Cole) and Odonata (Odon) were significantly increased in the northern streams. Approximately 60 % of the variation in the invertebrate assemblages, e.g., the ratio of EPT/(EPT+Cole+Odon), at these sites can be accounted for by consideration of land cover at either the catchment or riparian scale but not at the reach scale.