Gunpowder RIVERKEEPER® will be putting our skills into practice to measure stream health with Izaak Walton League’s Save Our Streams protocol on two Saturdays in October, once on the 10th and again a week later on the 17th. Both days will start at 10 am and should end by 1pm.
At each of the sites, to be determined, we will conduct a collection of creek critters using our kick net and scrub brush, then count and categorize each of the bugs we find. This can take quite a while, since we need a minimum of 200 specimens. Thus, the end time is approximate.
Benthic macro invertebrates are rather large insects, molluscs, crustaceans, and a few other weirdos that live on the bottom of streams and rivers. These serve as indicator species of water quality because they live in the same location over the span of many months or years. Those species that can’t tolerate pollution can used as a measure of stream health: many pollution intolerant bugs = less pollution in the water.
For more information about the Save Our Streams protocol or to complete the online training to learn about the different types of invertebrates we’ll be finding, check out Izaak Walton League’s website.
Come ready to wade into the stream, or wait on the bank while we collect some bugs. All of the classifying and categorizing will place on dry land, but dress for the weather and the mud if necessary.
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