Stream Collecting

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This past week we collected data at two different streams. We did our stream collecting through MiCorps. According to the Michigan Clean Water Corps, MiCorps is “for macroinvertebrate monitoring and habitat assessment in wadeable streams and rivers”(2022). This organization has funds that allow for volunteers to be trained in macroinvertebrate data collection in streams. The main purpose of having volunteers collect data is to access the water quality of different streams. Knowing the water quality helps us know how to best manage our water resources. When collecting data through MiCorps you have to fill out a worksheet that has a lot of information on it because it is important for them to know specific things about the streams without actually being there. 

The first stream that we went to was Big Cannon Creek. At this creek I sorted on the shore. For our sorting station we had a table with a shallow bin on it. The shallow bin was for pouring our stream samples in so that it was easier for us to sort. In the middle of the shallow bin we had a kill jar that we put the insects that we found in. The kill jar allows for the insects that we collected to be sorted and identified at a later date. The insects that are found in a stream can be good indicators of the stream's quality. When the people collecting in the stream had a full bucket we would pour the contents of the bucket into the shallow tray and start sorting. We then used forceps to pick out the larger insects and used pipettes for smaller insects. When we were sorting I noticed that there were a lot of flying bugs like mosquitoes that were swarming us, but most of us had on head mosquito nets so the bugs weren’t bothering us too bad. When I was collecting I noticed that there were two baby crayfish in the shallow bin that we were sorting through. We released them back into the stream instead of putting them in the kill jar and made a note on our data collection sheet. Another insect that we saw at this stream was water striders. Which were just on the top part of the water. 

The second stream that we went to was Devil Creek. At this creek I collected samples in the stream. When collecting in the stream two people worked together. One person used the D net to collect the samples. The other person carried the bucket which the person with the D net would empty into. When the bucket was full enough we would bring it to shore and empty it into the shallow tray for the insects to be sorted. The person with the D net had to make sure that they got in areas that had more wood or plants because many insects hide in these places. One thing I noticed with Devil Creek was that it had a lot of trees and plants going over the river which made it hard to collect the samples. It was like doing an obstacle course in some places. Some insects that I saw when collecting in the stream were water scorpions, water striders, and scuds. At this stream I also noticed insects and other things when I was on the stream. I saw butterflies and moths flying around and someone else in our group saw a garter snake.


    Overall, I thought that stream collecting was a cool experience. Whenever I have gone to streams in the past I have never thought about how many species were in there because so many of them are tiny and hard to see. I was thankful for the opportunity to learn more about collecting at streams through this experience.


References   

Build nets to catch and preserve stream insects. (n.d.). https://www.iwla.org/docs/default-source/how-to/how_to_build-nets-to-catch-and-preserve-stream-insects.pdf?sfvrsn=8

Stream Monitoring and cleanups. MiCorps. (2022, June 20). https://micorps.net/stream-monitoring/

Wikimedia Foundation. (2024, April 29). Killing jar. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_jar

    

  

 

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