Biological Health Inquiry (What is the health at Dry Creek 0.8?)

Justine Jangula Skills CenterBiological Health can be determined by catching macro-invertebrates in a creek, stream, or other body of water. We can assess the biological health of a stream by looking at the types of invertebrates that either thrive or do not thrive in it. If only a few types of invertebrates live there, or if the invertebrates are primarily ones that adapt well to disturbed streams, there is some kind of problem present.

Observation/Prior Knowledge:Dry Creek 0.8 is shallow and slim, there were no obvious signs of life, such as fish or other aquatic animals.

Hypothesis:If we collect macro-invertebrates then we will find that Dry Creek 0.8 has a moderate stream health because of my observations and prior knowledge.

Materials:• 1 complete Surwith conical net and collection cup) • 2 buckets, marked “clean” and “dirty” • 2 500-micron sieves, also “clean” and “dirty” • 4 rubber dishpans • strong weeding fork to disturb substrate • “clean water” decanter with handle • 2 angled-spout wash bottles (one for water, one for alcohol) • 2 spray bottles (one water, one alcohol) • macro-invertebrate handling tools: ♦ plastic spatula ♦ flexible forceps (tweezers) ♦ one rigid forceps ♦ magnifying glasses ♦ lighted magnifier ♦ head magnifier ♦ spoons ♦ eye droppers ♦ paintbrushes • wide-mouth sample jars with tight lids • foam holder for sample jars • Leak proof containers for jars (not supplied; you’d have to bring from home) • 95% denatured ethanol (remember to get this from the storage cabinet outside the office before taking the field kit home) ber sampler (square frame • electrical tape • macro-invertebrate ID field keys • pre-printed labels • Ziploc bags—small and large • 3 washers with flagging tape attached • permanent marker • *reach map or site sketch for each reach • *100’ tape • *timepiece with second hand • *camera • *rubber gloves • *tarp

Procedure: Place Surber Sampler in proper place, remove large rocks and clean them off, put clean rocks in dish pan, dig with digging tool, go over rocks with tweezers, put bugs and degraded leaves in jars, put sediment from net into separate dish pan, rinse and empty with water, leaving only sediment in dish pan, repeat as needed to be left with no floating debris, sieve sediment, pick through with tweezers, put any bugs in containers.

Conclusion:We found that the biological health of Dry Creek 0.8 was “poor.”, proving that my hypothesis was incorrect. After collecting the macro-invertebrates we came up with Zero Mayflies, Three Stone Flies, and two Caddis Flies.. Leaving us with a Total B-IBI Score of six, putting us in the “poor” category. My hypothesis was incorrect because I said that site 0.8 would have a moderate stream health, when it actually has poor stream health.

Acknowledgements:Streamkeepers.

Overview: Beginning downstream and moving upstream, you will collect three replicates, and for each replicate, you will dig with the Surber sampler three times. Therefore, at each monitoring reach, you will dig nine times. (This modification of the B-IBI sampling protocol for the Olympic Peninsula comes from Fore, 2001.) The three placements of the sampler for each replicate should be close together, but the different replicates should each be at least 5 ’ apart. If there is no single riffle large enough, you may need to sample from adjacent riffles or even go outside your regular monitoring reach. However, all 3 replicates must be collected from a single reach with similar characteristics of stream gradient and ravine or valley shape. If you only have a tiny amount of riffle in the entire reach area, you may have to squeeze your replicates closer than 5 ’ apart; note this on your data sheet.

METRIC

Metric B-IBI Score (1,2,3,4,5)

# Of Mayfly (E) – Taxa

1

# Of Stonefly (P)- Taxa

3

# Of Caddis fly (T)– Taxa

2

TOTAL B-IBI SCORE

6

3 Metric B-IBI Score Stream Condition

13-15 Excellent

11-12 Good

9-10 Fair

6-8 Poor

<6 Very Poor

Beginning downstream and moving upstream, you will collect three replicates total, and for each replicate, you will dig with the Surber sampler three times. Therefore, at each monitoring reach, you will dig nine times.