The Streamers:The Streamers:The Effect of Environmental The Effect of Environmental

Stress on Vulnerable Stress on Vulnerable StreamsStreams

Elizabeth Nellums, Mark Momper, Elizabeth Nellums, Mark Momper, Craig Riffle, Jesse MurphyCraig Riffle, Jesse Murphy

IntroductionIntroduction

Our group set out to explore the way that drought affects streams that are damaged from pollution and compare them to undamaged streams that have also been negatively impacted by drought.

HypothesisHypothesis Our hypothesis is that the diversity of both streams will be statistically lowered due to the drought, but that Collins Run, a stream that was affected by human development, will be statistically more damaged than Harkers Run, which flows through a preserve.

PurposePurpose

The purpose of our experiment is to measure the effects the recent drought has had, using diversity as an indicator of health. We will compare the data we collect to the research done by the Fishbusters lab group in 2001, which acts as our control, since it gives us the streams health when there was no drought. The Fishbusters lab group measured the diversity of fish populations in Collins and Harkers Run and then compared the data between the two.

Relevance of Research QuestionRelevance of Research Question

“Once the causes of decline are addressed, the ecological resiliency . . . takes over, often leading to the dramatic

recovery of the system.”

We are testing whether or not this is true. We are seeing if damaged ecosystems are able to suffer through

environmental stress.

Specific PredictionsSpecific Predictions

- Rainfall significantly affects the diversity in an ecosystem. Due to the drought this year, the fish diversity in both Collins and Harkers Run should be less compared to a non-drought year.

- As found in the Fishbusters study, the diversity in a damagedecosystem is considerably less than in a relatively undisturbed ecosystem (2001). This should still hold true for this year.

- We predict that the diversity in the disturbed stream, Collins Run, will be more affected by this year’s drought than the undisturbed stream, Harkers Run, due to human influence.

Methods

Went to bothstreams and capturedFish using an Electric fish shocker.

Also went toStreams and siftedThrough dirt to findInvertebrates.

Collins RunCollins Run

Harkers RunHarkers Run

ResultsResults

Collins Run Fish SampleCollins Run Fish SampleCenteral Stoneroller - 50 Emerald Shiner - 1

Bluntnosed Minnow - 39 Orange Throat Darters - 7

Creek Chub - 27 Green Sunfish - 2

Blacknosed Dace - 35 Bluegill Sunfish - 1

Silverjaw Minnow - 5 Striped Shiner - 21

Whitesucker - 7

Golden Redhorse Sucker - 1

Spotfin Shiner - 74

Harkers Run SampleHarkers Run SampleNorthern Hogsucker - 3 Carp Sucker -1

Sliverjaw Minnow - 4 Green Sunfish - 4

Golden Redhorse - 1 Whitesucker - 7

Blacknosed Dace - 38 Chubs - 105

Striped Shiner - 12 Central Stoneroller - 85

Mimic Shiner - 2 Bluntnose - 57

Spotfin Shiner - 4

Orange throat Darters - 7

Charts and Graphs

Harkers run present black redhorse sucker

blacknosed dace

bluegill sunfish

bluntnosed minnow

carp sucker

centeral stoneroller

creek chub

emerald shiner

Fantail Darter

golden redhorse sucker

Green Side Darter

green sunfish

hog suckers(n)

hybrid sunfish (stress)

Long ears

mimic shiner

Northern Hogsucker

orange throat darter

rainbow darter

red belly dace

silverjaw minnow

small mouth bass

spotfin shiner

striped shiner

whitesucker

Harkers Run Present

Collins run presentblack redhorse sucker

blacknosed dace

bluegill sunfish

bluntnosed minnow

carp sucker

centeral stoneroller

creek chub

emerald shiner

Fantail Darter

golden redhorse sucker

Green Side Darter

green sunfish

hog suckers(n)

hybrid sunfish (stress)

Long ears

mimic shiner

Northern Hogsucker

orange throat darter

rainbow darter

red belly dace

silverjaw minnow

small mouth bass

spotfin shiner

Collins Run Present

Index of Similarity = .889

Describes how similar the two measured streams are to each other. 0=Not Similar, 1=Similar

Shannon Index of General Diversity

Harkers = .7901Collins = .9076

Describes how diverse the stream is. 0=Not Diverse, 1=Very Diverse

Index of Dominance

Harkers = .2135Collins = .1649

Describes how much the stream is dominated by individual species.

Total Number of Fish Number of Species

Fishbusters

Collins’ Run

409 22

Fishbusters

Harkers’ Run

310 16

Streamers

Collins’ Run

270 13

Streamers

Harkers’ Run

332 15

Present & Past Comparison

Shannon Index of General Diversity

Fishbusters: Harkers = .888Fishbusters: Collins= .784

“Streamers”: Harkers = .790“Streamers”: Collins = .908

Fishbusters, Collins’ runTotal number of fish: 409Number of species: 22Dominant: central stonerollerBlacknosed daceCreek chubLeast dominant: bluegill, greensunfish, hogsuckers, hybrid sunfish, longears, redbellydace, smallmouth bassSpotfin shiner number: 11 (low)

Fishbusters, Harkers runTotal number of fish: 310Number of species: 16Dominant: redbelly daceMimic shinerBlacknosed daceNumber of chubs: 14 (low)Least dominant: bluegill, hogsuckers, striped shiners, white suckers

day two, Harkers, present -total: 332number of species: 15dominant: chubscentral stonerollerbluntnosedleast: carpsucker/redhorse

Collins' Run Invertebrate Sampling Results

Type 1 Taxa Type 2 Taxa Type 3 Taxa Invasive Species

Caddis Fly Larvae Crayfish Aquatic Worms ClamsOther Snails Damselfly Nymphs SlugsRifle Beetles

Harkers' Run Invertebrate Sampling Results

Type 1 Taxa Type 2 Taxa Type 3 Taxa Invasive Species

Rifle Beetles Damselfly NymphsAquatic WormsSnails Dragonfly Nymphs

ConclusionConclusion

Despite our predictions streams in the year following a drought are not less diverse than in the past.

This may indicate that disturbance increases diversity.

The unhealthy stream became more diverse, while the healthy stream became less diverse.