Aquatic Field Studies

Aquatic Field Studies

 

The Coquitlam River:

In science class we went down to The Coquitlam River in order to take samples of the invertebrates. Which included identifying and collecting them for a while in order to study them. Along with that we also took samples of the temperature of the air and water and we took a sample of the water to see what the quality of the river is.

 

Water Quality:

At the river just by looking at its entire length you could tell many things about the water quality. Firstly, the water was very clear for the most part which was a good sign along with the fact that it flowed well and there weren’t any plastics in it. Secondly you could tell the quality of the water by some of the animals the groups collected there. One of the specimens we caught in my group was a stonefly nymph. After looking at appendix one and after identifying the stonefly it says that they cannot tolerate pollution at all. This is a good sign as it probably means that the water quality is good because if it was bad then you wouldn’t find any stonefly nymphs at all. After all that examination we tested the area and the quality of the water too. The rivers overall water quality mark was 89.76. This is a good mark and it shows too, through all the examination we did on the river. Altogether, I am very satisfied with the water quality as there are animals, clear water, and lots of vegetation which is great for any ecosystem and to top it all off the rivers score is good as well because the river has just the right amount of everything.

 

Invertebrate Sampling:

One of the insects my group found was the stonefly nymph. The stonefly nymph is a small insect with lots of legs and two tails. This generally is a good sign as it means that the water quality is pretty good because stonefly nymphs live in good water quality. Most of the other groups found mayfly nymphs at the river. Yet again this is a good sign the reason, is because mayfly also need good water quality to live in which means that the rivers water quality is very good if both stonefly and mayfly nymphs can live in it.

 

Oxbow Pond:

After we were done taking samples of The Coquitlam River, we went down to Oxbow Pond the next day to also test its water quality and invertebrate. We did this to see how our local ecosystem was doing along with the ecosystem in that pond. Just like the river we identified the invertebrates and tested the water to see how good the water quality is.

 

Water Quality:

Before taking samples of the water at the pond I observed what it looked like first. When first looking at it you could tell that the turbidity of the pond was high as it was murky and hard to see through. This of course doesn’t’ mean its bad it’ s just very murky. In the water there weren’t any visible pollutants and there was lots of vegetation around the pond. So just by observing the pond seemed healthy. After all the observations it was time to collect samples of the water and to examine the invertebrates in the pond. My group managed to collect multiple fish from the pond, a dragon fly nymph, an aquatic worm, and finally an aquatic sow bug. Finding an aquatic sow bug and dragonfly nymph probably meant that the water quality was fair or good as they can live in either. Finding a worm might mean that the water quality isn’t good however, they can also live in good water quality too. Overall, by finding these animals I would say that the quality of the water was fair to good and the overall water quality score supports this too, as it’s 74.14 which is fair. Overall, I would say that the score and our findings are accurate as the ecosystem and pond was healthy and by looking at it you could tell that too. I am also happy to know that our pond is healthy just like The Coquitlam River.

 

Invertebrate Sampling:

Some of the animals we found were fish, the aquatic sow bug, an aquatic worm, and a dragon fly nymph. When looking at all those invertebrate and seeing where they were on the index, with some living and any water quality and some living in fair and good you could tell much about the water quality. The other groups also found many animals and there was lots of diversity among them. some people found the same things as us for example, the dragon fly nymphs, the sow bugs, and the fish. However, some groups also found snails and true bug adults. Those animals showed again that the water was probably of fair quality since they could inhabit the water. By putting all the samples together, it is probably likely that the water is fair quality since it has those animals in it which shows its water is pretty good, which is also good for the ecosystem.

 

Site Comparison:

By analyzing the results from both the river and pond and by observing them there are many things that can be compared in them. Firstly, the pond was much murkier and harder to see through, it was very opaque. The river on the other hand was much clearer and was very transparent. Secondly, the pond didn’t flow and all and wasn’t very steep either. However, the river flowed and a fast pace and was a little steep along with the areas surrounding it. Third, the bottom of the pond was very muddy and stick while, the river had lots of rocks and pebbles. Finally, the vegetation that was surrounding both of them. Both the bond and river had lots of vegetation surrounding them the only difference was that the pond had trees blocking some sunlight while the river wasn’t blocked nearly as much. But of course, the main comparisons that can be made is the water quality and the invertebrates. The river and the pond had different elements for both invertebrates and water quality. At the pond you could clearly see that there was a lot of turbidity because the water was murky, this is what brought its water quality down more than the river. You could see the affects of the turbidity because the quality of the water was less than the river, as it is 74.14 and the river is 89.76. the river on the other hand was clear and had less turbidity which probably raised its score more than the pond. The other comparison that can be made between the two is the invertebrates that live in their water. Because, the river had better quality you usually found invertebrates that live in good or fair water quality. Since, the ponds quality is less you could usually find fair and poor water quality invertebrates which doesn’t mean the water is polluted badly it just means that its more habitable to those creatures because its turbidity is higher. the one big thing the two had in common was that they both had lots of diversity in their ecosystems.

 

Putting It All Together:

The relation between the water quality and the diversity of the invertebrates is defiantly strong. An example would be the river and the pond. Even though the ponds quality isn’t too much worse than the river you can still see massive diversity in the invertebrates. Even the smallest details it can make a big difference. Again, the pond and the river are a good example of this because of the turbidity. Even when the only real difference between the pond and river was the turbidity, it still lowers the quality enough to allow more of certain types of invertebrates to want to live there, like the snail or aquatic worm. In conclusion I believe that the relationship between the water quality and the invertebrate’s diversity is a very powerful and strong one, and one we should not harm or interfere with.

 

Reflection:

I learned many things from the activities that we did. I learned how important the water quality is to the ecosystem and the invertebrates that live in it. I also learned how to determine what the quality of the water and how many different and unique invertebrates live in different types of water quality. I thought that the activities were very enjoyable. All the activities we did outside were fun like when we went out on the river in chest waders while remaining educational when we had to examine them and identify them after we caught them. They also helped me learn about watersheds more. The only thing that I can think of to make the activities more meaningful is if we get to explore the water ecosystem a little bit more because it would help us learn more and it would be fun too.