Habitat Assessment
We test for fertilizers, bacteria levels, metals, oxygen, and clarity of water - but a little common sense tells you that water quality is not the only thing that determines the overall health of a stream or lake. We can use our senses, especially those of sight, to determine if a body of water is relatively healthy - or not.
The BCWP-PTC uses a version of the Hoosier Riverwatch Citizens Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index to perform this work. The form is not technical and should take about 5 minutes to complete. Each survey area is approximately 200ft in length: 100ft upstream/100ft downstream. The more surveys completed, the clearer our picture of the watershed.
Step 1 - Mark your location on a map.
Download Busseron Creek Watershed maps here.
Step 2 - Complete the Habitat Assessment Form
The following tutorial and links are designed to assist volunteers in completion of this form.
Section
I - Substrate
A natural creek will have a variety of streambed materials: gravel, sand, a few rocks - all of which contribute to the habitat needs of plants and animals typically found in a healthy stream. Many Midwestern streams suffer from sedimentation problems: Streambeds are buried under a blanket of silt, smothering healthy habitat. In addition, suspended soil particles block sunlight and hamper normal biological processes.
Click here for more instructions on this section.
Section II - Cover
Any place that provides aquatic animals with a place to rest, hide, congregate or feed is considered cover. In streams where flow, food, and water quality area are adequate, the amount of cover can directly affect numbers of fish and invertebrates. Cover includes water depth, substrate, logs, stumps, rootwads, undercut banks, aquatic plants, and overhanging riparian vegetation.
Click here for more instructions on this section.
Section III - Stream Shape and Human Alterations
Streams will naturally meander, creating diverse stream flows, providing more
diverse habitat - and more diverse wildlife. A bend in a meandering stream
usually has a pool on the outside bend, gravel or a sand bar on the inside and
riffles or runs at each end - each providing a different kind of habitat.
Altered streams, especially straightened and channelized ones, provide far fewer
habitat types - and less variety of life forms.
Click here for more instructions on this section.
Section IV - Riparian Area and Erosion
Riparian zones are the lands along streams and rivers. These zones filter sediments and nutrients, stabilize stream banks, provide habitat and food for stream organisms, and, by shading streams, moderate temperature. Riparian zones also provide habitat for moist-zone animals and plants and travel routes for others. Removal of native riparian vegetation and its stabilizing root mass often contributes significantly to stream side erosion and bank collapse.
Click here for more instructions on this section.
Section V - Depth and Velocity
A variety of water depth along variety of water flow will provide a diverse habitat. Terrain provides a direct impact on velocity, but with an average fall of 5.4 foot per mile in the Busseron Creek Watershed, this feature is often more directly related to stream shape (Section III) with inner curves running faster and deeper and outer curves running slower and shallower.
Click here for more instructions on this section.
Section
VI - Riffles and Runs
Riffles are shallow, swift, highly productive areas that provide habitats for a variety of aquatic organisms and help add oxygen to the water through aeration. Runs are generally deeper/slower than riffles and shallower/swifter than pools. Both may be detected by turbulence on the surface of streams and both serve as a dependable habitat for small organisms, like insects, as well as provide spawning and feeding areas for fish.
Click here for more instructions on this section.