Aquatic Field Study

During this field study, the two locations visited were the Coquitlam River and Oxbow pond. In these two places samples of water, air temperature, water temperature, and invertebrates were taken by classmates at each respective site. To take these samples thermometers, nets, brushes, tubs to hold water, test tubes, waders, and examination sticks were used to effectively calculate these factors. These would be indicators of water quality along with previously observed factors such as phosphates, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, pH, nitrates and total dissolved solids. All results that come from the factors listed above may not be very accurate because they were not taken at the same time as the study was completed.

To collect invertebrate samples in the Coquitlam River one person in the group put on waders and used the following supplies; a net, scrubbing brush, and two buckets. They then took a water sample by scooping the smaller bucket through a section of the water, next a 30cm x 30cm area was chosen. In this area, the person in the water faced upstream and picked up rocks and stones from the riverbed scrubbing them while they remained in the water. To collect invertebrate samples in the Oxbow Pond again one person in the group put on waders and used the following supplies; a net, and two buckets. They then took a water sample by scooping the smaller bucket through a section of the water, next the net was moved through three areas in the water, by foliage, along the edge of the bank and then a small amount of the bottom area.

At the first site; the Coquitlam River, as a collective class, the invertebrate samples numbered at twenty-four. Some of the invertebrates my specific group found were Dragonfly Nymph, a water mite, and a Stonefly Nymph. Overall the class found 28 invertebrates such as Mayfly larva, Dragonfly nymph, snails, a water mite, Stonefly Nymph, and Caddisfly larva. This could indicate Fair to Good water quality because many species found could live in Fair to Good, for example, the Dragonfly Nymph is categorized in the fair water quality section while the Mayfly larva (16 Mayfly larvae were found) is categorized under Good water quality. Note that 1 other non-invertebrate was found. Levels such as oxygen, nitrates, phosphorus, etc. have an overall Q factor of 89.75. These invertebrates along with the factors collected about water quality indicate that this body of water has very good water quality that can sustain life.

At the second site; the Oxbow Pond, as a collective class the invertebrate samples numbered at twenty. Some of the invertebrates my specific group found were Dragonfly Nymphs, Aquatic Sowbug, and water mite. Overall the class found 15 invertebrates such as Dragonfly Nymph, Aquatic Sow bug, Alderfly, and water mite. This could indicate Fair water quality because there were no discovered invertebrates that were categorized under Good water quality while many invertebrates were found that are categorized under Fair water quality. Note that 7 non-invertebrates were found. Levels such as oxygen, nitrates, phosphorus, etc. have an overall Q factor of 74.15. These invertebrates along with the factors collected about water quality indicate that this body of water has fair to good water quality that is mostly sustainable for life.

Above there are facts leading me to personally believe that the Coquitlam River has good quality water while the Oxbow Pond has fair quality water. Before doing this Aquatic Field Study I had assumed based solely on the visual intake that the Coquitlam River had very good quality water that was sustainable for most life forms because of how clear and clean it looked. As for the Oxbow pond, I thought, again based solely on visual intake, that it had very poor water quality that was not very suitable for life forms for thrive given the murkiness of the pond and how unclean and dirty it looked.

RIVER

POND

https://www.meta-chart.com/share/invertebrates-found

During this activity, I learned a lot about water qualities and what makes water good or bad living conditions. I now understand how to interpret a chart or graph showing how to calculate Q levels of the many different things that can help to determine the water quality. I also have gained practice in using data gathered about the different life forms to create an educated guess to whether the water is of good or bad quality. I feel like this learning experience could have been enhanced if we had access to the chemistry kits which would allow to not only get more accurate results but also give us a chance to learn how to find and understand the work behind the data we get. Overall though this was a very enjoyable activity and I especially liked how involved we got to be the entire time.

In conclusion, I found this to be a very enlightening project on water quality, biotic and abiotic factors, and the chemical balances in different waters. It was fun to partake in and I hope that our class is able to continue similar projects throughout our different units. One of the hardest things was definitely working with the different invertebrates, everything from catching and collecting them to the identification. It was sometimes frusturating to try and collect certain samples into the test tube where they could be observed. Some success I had involved processing the data and information because I had found that challenging so I’m proud of how I was able to express my learning. In my opinion, this was a very engaging and fun way to learn.

Photo Sources:

Photo 1: Taken by a classmate

Photo 2: Taken by a classmate

Photo 3: “Invertebrates Found.” Share | Charts, 2019, www.meta-chart.com/share/invertebrates-found. (I used a bar graph building website)

Photo 4: Taken by a classmate