Using stream macroinvertebrates to compare riparian land use practices on cattle farms in southwestern Wisconsin

Vegetative riparian buffer strips are typically used to curb stream degrada tion due to cattle grazing, but intensive rotational grazing has shown prom ise as an alternative best management practice. We compared aquatic macroin vertebrate assemblages among stream segments within continuously grazed pas tures, intensive rotationally grazed pastures, undisturbed grassy vegetativ e buffer strips, and undisturbed woody vegetative buffer strips. We collect ed macroinvertebrate and stream sedimentation data from four streams in eac h land use category in two consecutive years. In an attempt to account for inherent watershed variability among streams, we represented watershed cond ition with a sample collected upstream of each treatment reach. Watershed c ondition tended to have greater influence on macroinvertebrate measures tha n local riparian land use. However, local riparian land use influences were apparent if watershed condition was statistically accounted for with analy sis of covariance. Stream reaches with intensive rotational grazing tended to have macroinvertebrate assemblage characteristics intermediate of the bu ffer and continuously grazed reaches. Although we detected some differences in macroinvertebrate assemblages that apparently reflected very local land use, our results suggest the macroinvertebrates were mostly responding to large-scale watershed influences.