Jammin' Freshwater: The Influence of Log Jams on Macroinvertebrates in Freshwater Creek

Overview

Objectives/Goals We wanted to find whether log jams affect the number of macroinvertebrates in Freshwater creek. Methods/Materials Stopwatch, 170 cm kick-net. Counted macroinvertebrates at 2 natural log jams and 2 human intervention areas with cleared log jams in Freshwater Creek on 3 different days. Results In the combined results of our 3 trials there were 50 macroinvertebrates in log jam areas and 27 macroinvertebrates in human intervention areas. For this comparison the P value of a Student's t-test was 0.21, suggesting this difference could have been the result of chance. Conclusions/Discussion Our results supported, but did not prove, our hypothesis. It may be that making more measurements or making measurements in more areas would allow us to prove our hypothesis true or false. Additionally, the presence or absence of log jams may affect macroinvertebrates in an entire stream and not just in the immediate log jam area. We learned that macroinvertebrates are an important part of the food chain and thus stream health.

Competition history

• CSEF 2017 Environmental Science · Entry J1209

Resources

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