SuckerBrookMonitoringReport

2016-2017

Preparedby:KatCrowley,PlymouthStateUniversity

For:TheWebsterLakeAssociation

BackgroundDuringsummerandearlyfallof2016and2017,aresearchgroupatPlymouthStateUniversitycollectedwaterchemistrydataandmacroinvertebratesamplesattendifferentsitesacrossNewHampshireforaprojectcalled“HotandSalty:AssessingecologicalstressinNewHampshirestreamsatcommunity,population,andmolecularlevels.”Theprojectaimedtoassesstheimpactofroaddeicersandstreamtemperatureonstreambiota,usingbenthicmacroinvertebratesasbio-indicatorsofecologicalstress.Iwasthegraduateresearchassistantontheproject;Icollectedsamplesin2017andanalyzeddatafor2016and2017.BecauseoneofourmonitoringlocationswasSuckerBrook,locatedintheWebsterLakeWatershed,Ireceived$1000fromthePamelaandJohnF.Marrapese“KeepNHLakesClear”EndowedScholarshipinSummer2017tohelpcovermyexpenseswhileIworkedontheproject.Inthanksforthisscholarship,IhaveputtogetherthisreporttoshareourfindingswiththeWebsterLakeAssociationinthehopesthatitwillbehelpfulforfuturemanagementactivities.

Figure1:SuckerBrookmonitoringlocationforthe“HotandSalty”project.

MethodsOnceamonth,duringsummerandearlyfallof2016and2017,ourteamoffaculty,graduatestudents,andundergraduatestudentswouldvisiteachofourtenmonitoringsitestocollectwaterqualitydata.ThesesiteswerechosentorepresentagradientofchlorideandthermalstressinNewHampshire;locationsrangedfromapristinesiteintheWhiteMountainstoadegradedsitejustdownstreamofaconstructionprojectinDurham.SuckerBrookwasexpectedtohavealow-moderateamountofthermalandchloridestress.WecollectedwaterchemistrydatasuchaspH,watertemperature,anddissolvedoxygenandcollectedagrabsampleofstreamwatertosendtoaUniversityofNewHampshirelabtomeasurechlorideconcentration.Macroinvertebrateswerecollectedusingakicknetmethod;onefieldcrewmemberheldanetwhileanotherkickedthesubstrateimmediatelyupstreamofthenettodislodgemacroinvertebrates.Tensectionsofthestreamalonga100-metersection(about50mupstreamanddownstreamoftheLastSt.crossing)werekicked.Aftereachkick,macroinvertebrateswerepickedoffthenetandplacedintoabottleof70%ethanolandlateridentifieddowntofamily.Oncethemacroinvertebrateswereidentifieddowntofamily,commonbiomonitoringmetrics(percentEPT,percentEphemeroptera,percentPlecoptera,percentTricoptera,percentChironomidae,andpercentDiptera)werecalculatedforeachsample.Thesemetricsallowforeasiercomparisonsbetweensitesandbetweendifferentsamplingmonthsandyearsatthesamesite.Asummaryofthewaterchemistrydataandmacroinvertebratemetricsareinthenextsection.ItisimportanttonotethatourresearchprotocolwasnotidenticaltotheVolunteerRiverAssessmentProgramprotocol,andwemayhaveuseddifferentequipment.Therefore,ourdataisusefulforexamininghowthesewaterqualityparameterschangeoverthemonthsandyears,butitshouldnotbecombinedwithVRAPdata.

Figure2:PickingmacrosoffthekicknetinSuckerBrook

WaterQualityData

WaterQualityParametersDate

SampledChloride(mg/L)

WaterTemp(C)

DissolvedOxygen(mg/L) pH

ClassBStandard <230 NA >5.0 6.5-8.0

6/9/16 5.35 14.8 9.14 7.767/8/16 - 17.6 8.73 6.98/8/16 13.4 14.9 8.18 7.839/8/16 10.90 17.8 7.72 7.2710/6/16 12.66 12.1 9.27 7.756/23/17 6.09 19.4 8.33 7.307/18/17 7.12 20.7 7.74 7.609/30/17 9.81 11.4 10.29 7.90

Figure1:WaterqualitydatacollectedatourSuckerBrooksiteonLastStreet.Dashesindicatethatthewatersamplewasunabletobeanalyzed.ClassBNewHampshireSurfaceWaterQualitystandardswerenotexceededforanyparameteronanysamplingdate.

MacroinvertebrateMetrics

MacroinvertebrateFamilyRichnessDate TotalFR EPTFR EphemeropteraFR PlecopteraFR TricopteraFR6/9/16 15 10 3 3 47/8/16 17 11 4 2 58/8/16 17 10 4 2 49/8/16 18 11 4 3 410/6/16 17 10 3 3 46/23/17 22 14 4 5 57/18/17 23 15 5 4 69/30/17 19 13 4 5 4Figure2:Macroinvertebratefamilyrichness(FR)isusedtoassessthebiodiversityofmacroinvertebrateordersbycountingthenumberoffamiliescollectedoneachsamplingday.Inourstudy,welookedattheordersEphemeroptera(mayflies),Plecoptera(stoneflies),andTricoptera(caddisflies).EPTisthecombinedfamilyrichnessofthesethreeorders.Sincetheseordersareintoleranttopollution,higherfamilyrichnessisdesired.Wefoundanaverageoffourmayflyfamilies,threestoneflyfamilies,andfive

caddisflyfamiliesattheSuckerBrooksite,whichisatorslightlyunderthefamilyrichnesswefoundatourmostpristinesites.

MacroinvertebrateRelativeAbundanceDate %EPT %Ephemeroptera %Plecoptera %Tricoptera %Diptera %Chironomidae6/9/16 80.4 44.48 11.6 24.31 8.01 2.27/8/16 70.6 18.53 13.24 38.82 10 4.78/8/16 53.5 18.02 13.37 22.09 13.95 8.79/8/16 74.5 9.04 18.62 46.81 8.51 2.710/6/16 77 25.95 20.41 30.61 17.2 1.76/23/17 82.3 34.09 23.18 25 7.73 1.827/18/17 67 28.19 12.78 25.99 11.89 4.859/30/17 90.3 34.27 13.31 42.74 3.63 1.61Figure3:Macroinvertebraterelativeabundanceisthepercentcompositionofeachorderorfamilyofinterest.Ephemeroptera,Plecoptera,andTricopteraareordersintoleranttopollution,soahighrelativeabundanceoftheseordersisdesired.%EPTisthecombinedpercentageofthesethreeorders.SuckerBrookrelativeabundancevaluesforEphemeroptera,Plecoptera,andTricopteraareabout10%lowerthanweseeatourmostpristinesites.DipteraisatolerantorderandChironomidaeisaparticularlytolerantfamilyinthisorder,soalowrelativeabundanceofthesearedesired.SuckerBrookrelativeabundancevaluesforDipteraandChironomidaeareconsistentwithourmostpristinesites.

ConclusionAlthoughmostofourprojectsiteshadlowlevelsofchlorideandthermalstress,SuckerBrookwascertainlyoneofourhigherqualitystreams.Macroinvertebratecompositionshowedhighabundanceandfamilydiversityofordersintoleranttopollution,andlowabundanceofordersandfamiliestoleranttopollution.Thisindicatesthattherearen’thighlevelsofpollutioninthestream.WeneverdetectedthatpH,chloride,ordissolvedoxygenlevelswereoutsidetheClassBNewHampshireSurfaceWaterQualitystandards.Atthistime,IhavenosignificantconcernsaboutSuckerBrookbasedonthewaterqualityparametersandmacroinvertebratebiomonitoringmetricswemonitored.

PhotoCredits1)CoverphototakenfromtheSuckerBrookVRAPwebsite:https://www.des.nh.gov/organization/divisions/water/wmb/vrap/sucker/index.htm2)Figure2wastakenbyAmyVillamagna,PlymouthStateUniversity.