Abstract
This study was implemented to determine the influence of agricultural land use versus forest land use on stream quality in the Skaneateles Lake Watershed. Skaneateles Lake is the primary
source of drinking water to the City of Syracuse, NY. A monitoring protocol was employed to determine habitat and nutrient status, and aquatic insect community composition in eight subwatersheds of the Skaneateles Lake Watershed. Agricultural sites had lower slope, canopy cover, and wetted width to depth ratio, lower counts of large woody debris, smaller substrates, and less dissolved oxygen as compared to forest sites. Agricultural and forest sites differed in dissolved inorganic carbon concentration. Quantitative sampling of aquatic insects revealed degraded community composition in agricultural sites as compared to forest sites. Macroinvertebrate community metrics correlated with habitat variables, which correlated among themselves as well. Monitoring protocols in the Skaneateles Lake Watershed may help avoid installation of a drinking water filtration system.