The Question
Date: Tue, 20 Dec 2005 15:00:19 -0500
From: Rita Jack <rita.jack@sierraclub.org>
Subject: [volmonitor] bugs in tiny little streams - how to not harm a stream?
Hello Vol Mons,
I have a study area in a still-pretty-wild part of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, in the Yellow Dog Plains, where the streams are the cleanest I’ve ever seen. (It’s not unusual to see specific conductivity readings that are less than 40 uS.) The project is geared to collect baseline water quality data prior to sulfide mining permit applications, to help support decision-making and public comment-ability. We began the Yellow Dog Plains study over 18 months ago.
Some of the streams that we work on are literally only 15 or 18 inches wide. Some of our volunteers are very concerned that going in to do a bug survey twice a year could potentially wipe out some sensitive and/or rare organisms.
What are some of the methods used in other areas to safely do a stream bioassessment in a stream that’s only 15 or 18 inches wide?
~Rita
><><><><><>><><><><>
Rita Jack
Water Sentinels Project
Sierra Club Mackinac Chapter
109 E. Grand River Ave.
Lansing, Michigan 48906
tel: 517-484-2372
www.michigan.sierraclub.org
www.sierraclub.org/watersentinels
Responses
Date: Tue, 20 Dec 2005 13:07:25 -0700
From: "Horn, Barb" <Barb.Horn@state.co.us>
Subject: RE: [volmonitor] bugs in tiny little streams - how to not harm a
stream?
There is a methodology that is similar to electroshocking fish that can be applied to macroinvertebrate sampling, the bugs recover and can be placed back into the river, identification has to occur in a timely manner and the bugs kept in a supportive environment--unless bugs id needs to involve dissection, the bugs all live.--might depend upon level of id needed. The upfront cost is that of the generator and probes-about $5000 --but will last a long, long time. If you want more information I can connect you. Studies have been performed comparing this method w/ traditional collection methods and for the usual list of metrics the method is valid.
Barb Horn
Biologist, Colorado Division of Wildlife
151 E. 16th Ave., Durango, CO 81301
vc: 970/382-6667 fx: 970/247-4785
Date: Tue, 20 Dec 2005 21:26:49 -0500 (EST)
From: boram@wilkes.edu
Subject: RE: [volmonitor] bugs in tiny little streams - how to not harm a
stream?
It is important to note that the very low conductivity of the stream may
limit the capability of this or any other electrode method.
Brian Oram
Wilkes University
http://www.water-research.net
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2005 10:22:16 -0500
From: Chris Sullivan <chris.sullivan@po.state.ct.us>
Subject: Re: [volmonitor] bugs in tiny little streams - how to not harm a
stream?
What taxonomic level are you IDing your macros to? If only to family you should be able to do 90% of the critters on site in trays of water and simply return the critters that day. I know I have taken samples stored them overnite in the fridge with a bubbler for town fair table for kids etc and the majority of the critters make it to the net day and their return to the sample site.
Of course if you ID to genus or species this probably wont work, since counting the number of ocelli on a perlidae or any other smaller details will be next to impossible with the critters wiggling around your petri dish.
good luck
peace
Chris
Chris Sullivan
Project SEARCH Coordinator
(203) 734-2513
FAX 203-922-7833
www.sciencecenterct.org/projectsearch
Center for Environmental Research Education
Kellogg Environmental Center
500 Hawthorne Ave
Derby, CT 06418
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2005 17:17:23 +0000
From: Ronald Wierenga <ron.wierenga@clark.wa.gov>
Subject: re:[volmonitor] bugs in tiny little streams - how to not harm a stream?
Rita,
I think one of the more significant impacts to the stream is from disturbing the substrate while collecting the sample. Using atrificial substrate, such as rock baskets or plates, would help minimize your footprint on the system and still provide usefull information, although not always comparable. River Network's Living Waters by Geoff Dates is a good reference for using artificial substrate. Check with your state's biomonitoring group for comparability issues. The bug population should be able to take the loss of a few organisms. Good luck, sounds like a fun project.
Ron Wierenga
Water Resources Program
Clark County Vancouver WA 98666-9810
360-397-6118 x4264
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2005 12:36:53 -0500
From: Danielle Donkersloot <Danielle.Donkersloot@dep.state.nj.us>
Subject: Re: [volmonitor] bugs in tiny little streams - how to not harm a
stream?
I did respond to the original email, stating that NJ volunteers will
either collect and return to the same stream or preserve. It depends on
the purpose of the monitoring project and the level of rigor they need
to achieve.
I am always unsure of keeping the samples over night in some-kind of
live well. My concern is that you are keeping a lot of organisms in one
bucket, so would the carnivores of the sample have a field day eating
the others? I tend to think of if as an All-You-Can-Eat-Buffet for
them.
What are your thoughts?
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2005 13:34:29 -0500
From: Jenny Birnbaum <jenny@mysticriver.org>
Subject: RE: [volmonitor] bugs in tiny little streams - how to not harm a
stream?
I definitely agree with Danielle's concerns- when I was a grad student
collecting benthic macroinvertebrate samples, we occasionally observed
predation in the sample even before the insects succumbed (the insects in
these samples were sacrificed). Additionally, at one point I raised a
dragonfly larva for an entomology class, and I kept it in a tank with
mayflies, damselflies and even mosquitofish to sustain it... so keeping live
organisms all together over night is definitely an all-you-can-eat buffet!
Jenny Birnbaum
Mystic Monitoring Network Director
Mystic River Watershed Association
20 Academy St., Suite 203
Arlington, MA 02476
(781) 316-3438
jenny@mysticriver.org
www.mysticriver.org
Date: Fri, 30 Dec 2005 15:12:28 -0800
From: Eleanor Ely <ellieely@earthlink.net>
Subject: RE: [volmonitor] bugs in tiny little streams - how to not harm a stream?
Greetings -- just returned from vacation to find this discussion. I wanted to mention an article in the Summer 2005 issue of The Volunteer Monitor titled "Catch-and-Release Bioassessment" (pages 14-15) -- it contains several recommendations for gentle handling of insects to maximize their survival.
Ellie
Eleanor Ely
Editor, The Volunteer Monitor Newsletter
50 Benton Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94112
415-334-2284
ellieely@earthlink.net
Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2006 11:03:44 -0500
From: Ginger North <ginger@dnsashland.org>
Subject: RE: [volmonitor] bugs in tiny little streams - how to not harm a
stream?
I, too, just got back from vacation to read about this issue. I was interested in all the various testing methods that different volunteer groups use per the Volunteer Monitoring issue that Ellie mentioned. I also heard about various methods at the Region III EPA conference in West Virginia and read couple of articles describing specific methods used by volunteer groups collecting data for government agencies. It seems that there is a huge variety in methodology and I hope that a discussion comparing the various methods might be considered at the National Water Monitoring Conference in May.
We have used a modified version of the Stroud Water Research methodology which involves perserving the collected organisms, but when studying very small first order streams we, too, are concerned that we are compromising the balance of the stream life. I am interested in hearing about other options that still give useful data.
Ginger North
Stream Watch Coordinator
Delaware Nature Society
302-239-2334x100
Fax 302-239-2473
ginger@delawarenaturesociety.org
www.delawarenaturesociety.org
Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2006 09:59:20 -0700
From: "Horn, Barb" <Barb.Horn@state.co.us>
Subject: RE: [volmonitor] bugs in tiny little streams - how to not harm a
stream?
Can't have a discussion on method comparison w/out bringing in data objectives, study purpose/goals....there are a variety of methods for technical and waterbody differences reasons but also becuase different data objectives exist.....a valuable discussion would be to discuss the pro'/con's w/ /the variety of methods to achieve the same goals/purpose/data objective....
Barb Horn
Biologist, Colorado Division of Wildlife
151 E. 16th Ave., Durango, CO 81301
vc: 970/382-6667 fx: 970/247-4785
Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2006 15:21:06 -0500
From: Joan Martin <jmartin@HRWC.ORG>
Subject: RE: [volmonitor] bugs in tiny little streams - how to not harm a stream?
What an excellent point, Barb. The challenge for us is that volunteer monitoring groups have to demonstrate their ability to correctly collect and identify the macroinvertebrates, so catch and release doesn’t verify their identification. I would like to see suggestions that cover this need.
Thanks,
-Joan
(734) 769-5123, X.11
Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2006 15:38:13 -0500
From: Rita Jack <rita.jack@sierraclub.org>
Subject: RE: [volmonitor] bugs in tiny little streams - how to not harm a stream?
Friends – I’m grateful for the continuation of this thread after the week away from the office and email, and I echo Joan’s point below.
Is one solution to have the volunteers identify and count everything, and then to keep and preserve one of each different kind to verify the id’s? I’ve heard of some groups who send teams to all their sites, and then they gather together at the end to identify and count, perhaps in a lab with microscopes – and then release all the still-living critters back to a convenient local stream. This, however, greatly concerns me because of the potential for moving exotic aquatics around a watershed. Yikes!
-Rita
><><><><><>><><><><>
Rita Jack
Water Sentinels Project, Sierra Club Mackinac Chapter
tel: 517-484-2372
Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2006 16:04:27 -0500
From: Mayio.Alice@epamail.epa.gov
Subject: [volmonitor] bugs in tiny little streams
The information below might be of general interest to those of you
pursuing this topic -- it comes from Ed Rankin of the Midwest
Biodiversity Institute (and formerly of Ohio EPA).
--Alice Mayio
Ohio EPA has a website dedicated to very small ("primary") headwater
streams, generally less than 1 sq mi in drainage. They have detailed
sampling protocols and a number of nice publications dealing with these
streams that can be downloaded. The Web site is:
http://www.epa.state.oh.us/dsw/wqs/headwaters/
Most of this generated out of their NE district office. Their
methodology looks at macroinvertebrates, amphibians, and habitat. They
do offer periodic training in this methdology in Ohio. As for the fear
of oversampling, I think that should be minimal for several reasons.
First, at best a macro sample would capture only a fraction of what is
any reach of stream. Second, the biota of headwater streams especially,
is adapted to various "natural" disturbances such as storms, winter
ice, etc that result in relatively rapid recovery after a distrubance
as long as the "natural infrastructure" (i.e., habitat, etc) is intact.
Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2006 16:18:59 -0500
From: Geoff Dates <gdates@rivernetwork.org>
Subject: Re: [volmonitor] bugs in tiny little streams - how to not harm a
stream?
As Barb implies: the answer is . . . it depends.
Returning the critters to the stream will limit what you can do with the sample. That will affect your results, the type of metrics you can use, and quite possibly the use of your data. The basic question comes down to will the limits of an all-field approach limit the usefulness of the results?
If the impacts (or impairments) are obvious (e.g. nothing but worms and midges), then higher taxonomic level (family, or maybe even orders) field taxonomy is fine.
In most cases, the more taxonomy you do, the more information you get. Many of the data analyses (aka “metrics”) used become more meaningful. As anyone knows who’s tried it, field identification below family is VERY difficult (even family identification is difficult for some taxa). It’s particularly difficult when the organisms are small.
Once you throw the sample back, you’ve lost the ability to:
know for sure if you’ve misidentified something
do further taxonomy
quality check your results
Several options:
for your first collection, get samples from each site and preserve everything. Build a reference collection from these samples.
Videotape (under magnification) each organism that goes into your voucher collection while it is still alive. Movement is often an important clue.
each time you collect, preserve one of each type of organism, to the best of your ability.
bring the live samples back to the lab and use some sort of aquarium to keep them alive while you identify them under high magnification. Bring them back to where you collected them, if possible.
Thanks for raising the question.
Geoff Dates
River Watch Program Director
River Network
Home Office:
231 24D Heritage Condos
Woodstock, VT 05091
802-457-9808 w & h
email: gdates@rivernetwork.org
River Network Web Site: www.rivernetwork.org
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Updated
Tuesday, 06-Nov-2007 16:16:02 CST
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