R tools for the National Aquatic Resource Surveys and beyond

In support of the National Aquatic Resource Surveys (NARS), ORD personnel and the NARS IM contractor have created several R packages and sets of code to maintain consistency from one cycle to the next. Three R packages contain code used to calculate metrics and indicators for physical habitat for the National Rivers and Streams Assessment (NRSA) and the National Lakes Assessment (NLA), for fish, benthic macroinvertebrates, and zooplankton for NLA and NRSA, and for vegetation metrics for the National Wetlands Condition Assessment (NWCA). The packages include documentation and examples to help explain how to use the functions contained in each. There are also several R scripts that can be used to screen metrics and to build and compare multimetric indices for biological assessment. This presentation will provide an overview of the packages and code, as well as provide a live demonstration of accessing and using the code.   

Impact/Purpose

This presentation will provide information to state and tribal monitoring personnel on existing R code developed for the National Aquatic Resource Surveys that can be used to simplify the steps of calculating metrics and indicators and of developing multimetric indices for biological assessment. All of the code discussed is available for public download from GitHub, and a live demonstration of how to obtain and use the code will make it more accessible to this audience. 

Citation

Blocksom, K. R tools for the National Aquatic Resource Surveys and beyond. Monitoring and Assessment Partnership Bi-Monthly Meeting, Washington, DC, DC, April 15, 2025.