Water Shrew 



129 



Table 5. Means, habitat assessment metric scores (after Plafkin et al. 1989), stan- 

 dard errors and ranges for five streams in Virginia where S. palustris was found, 

 1974-1993. Values range from 0-20, with 20 indicating the highest quality. 



Parameter 



Mean 



SE 



Range 



In-stream cover 20 



Epifaunal substrate 20 



Embeddedness 1 8 



Velocity /depth ranges 15 



Channel alteration 20 



Sediment deposition 18 



Frequency of riffles 20 



Channel flow status 16 



Bank condition 19 

 Bank vegetative protection 19 



Disturbance pressure 20 



Riparian vegetation 19 



0.0 

 0.0 

 0.2 

 0.2 

 0.0 

 1.2 

 0.0 

 1.0 

 0.2 

 0.2 

 0.0 

 1.0 



20-20 

 20-20 

 18-19 

 15-16 

 20-20 

 15-20 

 20-20 

 13-18 

 19-20 

 18-19 

 20-20 

 16-20 



Fig. 4. Frequency distribution (mean ± SE) of the extent of bank undercutting in 

 four streams at which S. palustris was found in Virginia. 



0-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 >50 

 BANK UNDERCUT DEPTH (cm) 



