River Biocosystems

Baldwin swamp is an urban wetland, located in the heart of Bundaberg, providing a habitat to a range of organisms. The environment is rich in biodiversity; with more than 150 species of birds, variety of vegetation/plants as wells as creatures and mammals ranging from tiny aquatic wrigglers to bats, which have recently inhabited the area. Wetlands can be swamps, boys and or areas next to creeks. The Baldwin swamp can be best described as a network of ponds/swamps that channels into landscapes of grassland. This area has a significant ecological impact as the relationships among the organisms in relation to their food webs is vital to their survival. Abiotic factors such as humidity, soil, pollution, Ph levels, temperature, dissolved oxygen

Since Freshwater biomes are found all over the world, the types of plants and animals that live in these waters can be different. Some examples of plants that may inhabit a Freshwater biome are grass, spike rush, water lilies, cattail, and sometimes trees. Most plants living in these waters are not recognized by humans. Animals that live in these biomes are frogs, turtles, snakes, fish, and sometimes alligators. Insects like mosquitos also inhabit these biomes greatly. Animals such as raccoons and earthworms live on the land surrounding the biome, but depend on the biome to survive. Some animals, such as beavers, live in both the water and the land surrounding it. Algae also plays a big role in a Freshwater biome ecosystem.

Through our research we aimed to determine if there were any differences in water quality of both the north and south forks of Strawberry Creek. As time progresses and the environment changes it is important to keep track of how certain species are being impacted by these features, and how they cope with change. We hypothesized that due to the lack of pollution, the south fork will promote a greater diversity of macroinvertebrates. This was due to the fact that there was less runoff and trash that could be introduced to the water in the south fork, than there was in the north fork. We gathered data by analyzing the different organisms living in both forks. We collected a total of fifty vials composed of five organisms from each fork, and inspected them under microscopic view. After gathering data and identifying the different kinds of organisms living in the different forks we assessed whether the organisms from the samples could live in high or low resolution water. We also took a t-test to assess the probability of these differences being due to relevant factors or by chance. Our major findings suggest that organisms in the south fork showed a higher demand to living in cleaner water indicating that our hypothesis was correct.

On October 6th 2015, the students of Mattawan’s AP Environmental class took a trip to the local stream of the Mattawan Consolidated Schools area. The purpose of this trip was to conduct a stream study to determine the health, conditions, and pollution levels of this small body of water. A multitude of factors came into play when making a judgement on the stream’s health, and making sure to take all of these essential points was crucial to the study. A variety of thorough experiments were conducted to help make this overlying conclusion, as many students adopted many roles in the study. Students used a physical survey form, water test data sheet, and taxa recording sheet to record their findings. Teamwork was essential in making sure all of this information could be found accurately and efficiently. The combination of all of the final results allowed the class to make a judgement of the stream’s state.

The 7th graders took a nature hike and observed the nature around the Portage River. There, a nature expert talked about invasive species, seed distribution, and plants. When the water rises the seed pods come off of plants and float on the water, the seeds then are carried to new places. The 7th graders talked about how the monarchs are declining because of the lack of milkweed. They also talked about plants like goldenrod and poison ivy. Around the Portage River there are habitats like prairies, forests, and floodplains. Plants in the riparian zone help to filter the water before it goes into the river.

Turner, R. Eugene, and Nancy N. Rabalais. "Linking Landscape And Water Quality In The Mississippi River Basin For 200 Years." Bioscience 53.6 (2003): 563. Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 May 2016.

These aquatic insects start their lives in the waters of Pine Creek. Mayflies and caddis flies are plentiful at certain times of the year. Their presence signals that the waters here are pure and that the stream quality is excellent.

6. Richter, Brian D., Baumgartner, Jeffrey V., Powell, Jennifer, and Braun, David P. (1996). A method for assessing hydrologic alteration within ecosystems. Conservation Biology 1996:1163. http://libproxy.txstate.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.2387152&site=eds-live&scope=site

Our experiment was conducted in late January at Wet Beaver Creek. Wet Beaver Creek is located south of Flagstaff in the Coconino National Forest (34.663470, -111.669943). Wet beaver creek has an elevation of 1158 meters, with an average annual precipitation of 42.4434cm, and an average temperature range of 26.711111 C in July and 6.166667 C in December. The Wet Beaver creek area has a perennial and ephemeral stream, each with diverse riparian woodland, composed of Populus fremontii (Fremont Cottonwood), Fraxinus velutina (Arizona ash), Platanus wrightii (Arizona sycamore), Juniperus deppeana (Juniper), Alnus oblongifolia (Arizona Alder), and Quercus arizonica (Arizona white oak).

Different physical structures may be used in stream restoration in order to provide channel stability and in order to provide habitat and other beneficial functions. Some of the typical structures that are used are revetments made of gabions or riprap and woody debris. Each type of structure has benefits and costs that should be considered before installation and some are more appropriate in certain situations than others.

A group of future biologists and I ventured through Beaver Creek and wrote down observations. We had found that the bank of the creek was eroded. We found invasive species such as Persicaria Longiseta and the English Ivy. We observed a lack of animal activity besides numerous mosquitoes and one salamander. In a section of the water there was a large amount of oil changing that section orange. The runoff system seemed obsolete and all the storm water from the parking lots would drain directly into Beaver Creek. We took a water sample two weeks later. Our water sample was slightly biased because we had taken it in a different location then where the obsolete design occurred. Water temperature was 16 C⁰. We did not find a significant threat or dangerous chemical levels of Nitrate, Nitrite, pH, Alkalinity, and chlorine. We did find our water hardness to be high. The area did test positive for having bacteria like Ecoli, Salmonella, Shigella, Enterobacter, Kliebsiella, other Coliform and non-coliform bacteria. The area also tested positive for pesticides atrazine and simazine.

Collecting water samples, recording water quality, and measuring stream discharge and velocity at the Northern Unit of the J. Phil Campbell Sr. Research and Education Center and Tanyard Creek peeked my interest in

Benthic macroinvertebrates have been used to assess the health of aquatic environments. Quality analysis involves looking at benthic species composition and organization within the stream (Resh and Unzicke 1975). Different macroinvertebrates have differing sensitivities to pollutant, with some being more susceptible to environmental toxins than others (Metcalfe 1989). Such methods group macroinvertebrates in regards to their tolerance to pollution.

Similarity differences are based on the compositional changes between sites, hence do not always indicate the changes in spatial variability between contrasting groups of sites on an ordination. In its place, variability could be effectively measured and expressed, using the average multivariate distance between sampling objects within a group of sites (Anderson, 2001; Oksanen, 2011; Oksanen, 2012). Thus, I used multivariate dispersion of group homogeneities to measure the differences in biological variability between interested contrasting freshwater communities (Oksanen, 2011). Interestingly, any significant difference was not observed in group homogeneity of fish or invertebrates communities, between pasture and forested streams. The difference in compositional similarity has not

Within this task we were required to determine the ecological state of the Reddam House wetland, which I presume is at a good standard.