|
Submitted to:
Macro invertebrates are key indicators of stream health due to their species diversity and various sensitivities to physical and chemical habitat changes. Macro invertebrate surveys can be beneficial to students learning about ecology and stream processes as well. In completing a survey, students learn how to keep a field notebook, design a field study, and executing the necessary actions to produce useable data as a team. Materials and Methods Students (Fig 1) collected samples from riffle habitats in a 15 meter length of creek. A kick net was held in place while two students dislodged invertebrates by digging and moving strata just upstream of the net. The net contents were emptied into a bucket, where large rocks and debris were sprayed off using a high pressure water sprayer. The contents were then rinsed into a fine meshed sieve and then poured into a bucket again. All students participated in removing invertebrates by forceps. Invertebrates were placed into a 1000 ml whirl pack, filled with 70 percent ethanol. Invertebrate taxa were identified and logged into data sheets and field notebooks. Results All sample sites yielded water quality ratings of >16 or excellent (see accompanying data sheets). Other invertebrates found were in the orders Amphipoda, Ephemeroptera, and Trichoptera. Vertebrates found were Pacific Giant Salamander Dicamptodon tenebrosus and Pacific Lamprey Lampetra tridenta (Fig 2). Discussion Wolverton creek is shown to be an excellent reference creek for other creeks in the Van Duzen water shed. Sensitive water quality organisms were found dominating all sections studied, indicating low impacts of sedimentation or septic leakages upstream. Ample amounts of woody debris and large cobble, that create habitat for macro invertebrates, were found throughout the study reach. Students are now prepared to conduct similar field studies in the future, and may have gained new appreciation for their home watershed.
|
||||||
|
||||||