AIMS Paint Rock macorinvertebrate field data (AIMS_SE_PRF_MAME)

This study was conducted in the Paint Rock research watershed (outlet location: 34.96861724,  -86.16501705) on privately owned property in Jackson County (AL, USA) as part of the Aquatic Intermittency effects on Microbiomes in Streams (AIMS) project, an NSF EPSCoR funded project (OIA 2019603). The project sought to explore the impacts of stream drying on downstream water quality across Kansas, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Idaho, integrating datasets on hydrology, microbiomes, macroinvertebrates, and biogeochemistry. The watershed drains a non-perennial unnamed tributary to Burks Creek and contains 2.97 km2 of deciduous forest in the Cumberland Plateau physiographic section. Located near Estillfork, AL, the watershed spans an elevation range from 211 to 550 m above sea level and is a tributary to the Paint Rock River (within the larger Tennessee basin). The region has a humid subtropical climate, with mean daily January and July air temperatures of 4.4°C and 25.4°C respectively, and mean annual precipitation of 1,390 mm/yr.

We collected samples every ~3 weeks from November 3, 2021, to January 11, 2023, at the outlet of our watershed (PRM01, approach 1). This data resource characterizes non-perennial stream sites and other metadata for macroinvertebrate samples collected as part of the NSF-funded project AIMS (Aquatic Intermittency Effects on Microbiomes in Streams), including Approach 1 (maintenance sampling'). Characterization of sampling sites follow the AIMS Macroinvertebrate Field Sampling SOP (Allen & Busch, 2024). Briefly, 100 m transects were marked, with AIMS STIC centers at 50m. Samples were collected at 0, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 m and compiled into a single macroinvertebrate sample. Field data was collected at each transect depending on whether the sampling crew observed surface water in the stream channel at the time of sampling ('WetDry'), a visual estimation of benthic sediment and algae cover percentage, percent canopy cover (estimated via densiometer), the wetted width of the stream at each sampling location where possible, and if the full 100m reach was connected and flowing. Some measurements are missing from sites due to logistical/human errors, and are recorded as NAs. Wetted width could only be collected when surface water was present, so NAs associated with dry sites are flagged ('WW_flag' variable) for convenience. In addition, substrate estimates, canopy cover, habitat classification, habitat isolation, and depth were not recorded for dry sites. For a periods of sampling, four equally spaced water depths were collected across the transect.