Comparing Stream Invertebrate Communities Along the Prairie Corridor

Laura Stalder Author

04/06/2021 Added

14 Plays

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Comparing data from seven sites along the Prairie Corridor to determine species richness at each site.

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[00:00:01.620]Comparing stream invertebrate communities along the Prairie corridor by Laura
[00:00:06.420]Stalder. The Prairie corridor is a tall grass,
[00:00:11.070]Prairie and trail that will connect to Lincoln,
[00:00:13.830]Nebraska to the Spring Creek Prairie.
[00:00:16.950]This will start at the Pioneer Park Nature Center and follow
[00:00:21.810]along the streams through Denton to the Spring Creek Nature Center.
[00:00:27.720]There'll also be a trail that branches off to connect to the
[00:00:32.340]Conestoga Lake Recreational Area.
[00:00:36.060]And this project will reconnect fragmented habitat.
[00:00:39.930]So that includes the prairie, stream,
[00:00:42.750]freshwater wetlands, and saline wetlands.
[00:00:46.560]More information about this corridor can be
[00:00:49.350]found @prairiecorridor.org
[00:00:54.300]for the invertebrate communities. Uh,
[00:00:58.380]we sampled at seven locations.
[00:01:01.690]They're marked on this site on the slide as tacks
[00:01:08.190]the orange tacks where the Spring Creek sites at
[00:01:12.690]Denton and the East fork of Spring Creek.
[00:01:16.230]The green tack is the Holmes Creek, uh,
[00:01:20.550]below Conestoga Lake reservoir.
[00:01:23.400]And the four blue tacks are along the Haines
[00:01:27.720]Branch. The yellow
[00:01:32.700]markers are landmarks of the Pioneers Park,
[00:01:37.020]Conestoga Lake and Spring Creek Prairie to give a reference of
[00:01:42.030]where this corridor will start and finish along that
[00:01:46.650]stream.
[00:01:50.190]The methods for this was during the summer,
[00:01:53.790]we collected 11 samples per site that we combined to
[00:01:58.500]be one sample per site. So to do this,
[00:02:02.250]we sampled at 11 different transects
[00:02:07.740]with a varying length,
[00:02:10.320]depending on the width of the stream.
[00:02:15.060]So if the width of the stream is less than four meters,
[00:02:19.050]we sampled a reach of 150 meters.
[00:02:23.940]But if the stream was more than four meters,
[00:02:27.810]we did a 200 meter reach.
[00:02:31.080]So for the 150 meter stream reach,
[00:02:34.350]the transects were 15 meters.
[00:02:37.440]And for the 200 meter stream reach,
[00:02:41.610]our transects were 20 meters.
[00:02:45.300]We sampled either the
[00:02:49.950]left channel and bank, the center channel or the right channel and bank.
[00:02:55.530]And so determine which portion we started on at transect
[00:03:00.310]A, we used a random method that using time.
[00:03:05.350]So if it was zero to three seconds,
[00:03:08.410]then we sampled the left channel and bank, four to six seconds.
[00:03:12.550]We sampled the center channel and seven to nine seconds.
[00:03:16.360]We sampled the right channel and bank.
[00:03:20.200]So use the time method to start at transect A,
[00:03:24.430]if it was eight seconds,
[00:03:25.990]we started on the right transect and right channel and bank.
[00:03:31.140]And we sampled there for one minute disturbing the substrate with our
[00:03:36.010]foot in front of our net in the upstream portion.
[00:03:39.700]So with our net in the downstream portion,
[00:03:43.120]so our disturbed area will flow into our net and be captured.
[00:03:47.560]And that's how we captured the aquatic invertebrates.
[00:03:52.270]And so we did that for one minute and then moved on to the next transect
[00:03:57.070]at B. And so we started at the right bank.
[00:04:02.020]Our next sample would be at the left bank and continue on in a pattern
[00:04:07.030]of left center, right. And do that every transect.
[00:04:11.680]We also use the NDEE rapid
[00:04:16.120]bioassessment protocol and sample the substrate type,
[00:04:20.890]the stream depth and width,
[00:04:23.920]the flow of the stream and did a quick riparian habitat
[00:04:28.630]assessment.
[00:04:32.680]So during the semester we took the samples that were gathered at each site
[00:04:37.930]that looked similar to the picture on the,
[00:04:41.710]in the right side of this slide. Uh, those samples had leaves,
[00:04:46.120]sticks, bark,
[00:04:48.940]and parts of the substrates, still in it,
[00:04:52.960]along with the aquatic invertebrates.
[00:04:55.810]So we used a microscope to pick out
[00:05:01.150]the invertebrates from all the detritus
[00:05:05.980]and extra stuff like the leaves and sticks.
[00:05:10.660]And the picture in the bottom left corner kind of shows some
[00:05:15.460]different, uh, species and
[00:05:21.720]species that we found in our samples. Uh,
[00:05:26.200]and so we used those and counted out like with
[00:05:30.640]likes and counted each individual found
[00:05:36.730]in the sample.
[00:05:39.460]We found highest species of richness in HCR,
[00:05:43.180]and ESC with the lowest species of richness at Haines
[00:05:48.030]Branch Denton.
[00:05:49.930]We calculated the total abundance.
[00:05:53.620]So that is the number of species total,
[00:05:58.520]like every individual in that site.
[00:06:01.700]And then we also did the taxonomic richness,
[00:06:05.390]which is how many orders or species
[00:06:10.370]are there. And then we also calculated diversity.
[00:06:15.050]And so this told us not only how many species,
[00:06:19.440]how many individuals were there, but also who they were and what portion of the
[00:06:25.250]community they made up. Uh,
[00:06:29.270]so in conclusion,
[00:06:31.340]we found substantial differences in the macroinvertebrate communities,
[00:06:35.900]along the Haines Branch stream network with the highest diversity
[00:06:40.790]and species richness in the East fork of Spring Creek,
[00:06:44.840]which was our expectation based on the level of the
[00:06:49.790]low level of disturbances in that area and the good water quality
[00:06:55.880]finding the relatively high diversity in Holmes Creek below Conestoga reservoir
[00:07:00.950]and at East Pioneers Park was unexpected and maybe
[00:07:05.780]driven by a very different factors.
[00:07:09.140]It could be like flow regulation versus the salinity changes,
[00:07:12.860]or also the width of the stream.
[00:07:16.430]We are still working on the taxonomy of an additional site
[00:07:21.500]at the West fork of Spring Creek
[00:07:25.070]Our acknowledged, acknowledgements.
[00:07:28.310]The photos were provided by Tu our funding was provided by the
[00:07:33.050]Nebraska environmental trust. Uh,
[00:07:35.630]we had many partners for this project and Ema Muslic and
[00:07:40.250]Tu helped with the field work during the summer. Uh, that will be all.
[00:07:44.600]Thank you.

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Comparing Stream Invertebrate Communities Along the Prairie Corridor

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