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Presented at the NABS Annual meeting, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2002
in Urban Ecology I
BIODIVERSITY AND WATER QUALITY OF SNYDER'S BRANCH CREEK (SALEM, VA).
B.C. Wilson1, C.E. Taylor1, and J.A. Santiago-Blay2. 1Department of Biology, Roanoke College, Salem, VA 24153, 2Department of Paleobiology, MRC-121, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 10th and Constitution Avenue, Washington, DC 20560
Snyder Branch Creek (SBC) is a second order, shallow, ephemeral, approximately 2
km long stream that runs throughout Salem into the Roanoke River in
southwestern Virginia. We conducted a 13-month pilot study (November 2000
- November 2001) consisting of monthly Surber sampling of benthic
macroinvertebrates at eight sampling sites. Our research shows
that: 1) There are at least 59 species of aquatic macroinvertebrates,
mainly insects and crustaceans. 2) The western, first order stream branch
(sampling Site 2), where human dwellings are less abundant, is the most
biodiverse in pollution-intolerant bioindicators, including several
species of mayflies and stoneflies. 3) From the Roanoke College area
(sampling Site 4) to the Roanoke River (sampling Site 8), biodiversity of
pollution-intolerant bioindicators decreases drastically, their fauna is
dominated by pollution-tolerant bioindicators, such as chironomid larvae
and oligochaetes. 4) As suggested by bioindicators, water quality is
especially poor near the Salem-Peacock Laundry (sampling Site 7), where
chironomid larvae and oligochaetes were the dominant inhabitants. This
study has important implications for the sampling regime that a monitoring
program should have. Also, this study is germane to theoretical ecology,
including the importance of spatiotemporal discontinuities in some aquatic
ecosystems as well as their resilience.
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