Determining Stream and Wetland Health in an Urban Restored Riparian Ecosystem in Durham NC through Benthic-macroinvertebrate Surveys
Abstract
Water and aquatic habitat quality are frequently assessed by analyzing the structure
of benthic macroinvertebrate communities in streams and other bodies of water. The
Stream and Wetland Assessment Management Park (SWAMP) in Durham, NC, part of Sandy
Creek, is a restored stream and wetland complex started in 2003. Restoration phases
have been constructed to target both improvements in water quality and habitat. The
two focal phases of restoration for this project were a re-sculpting of the geomorphology
of the main stem of Sandy Creek and the creation of a braided or anabranched stream
pattern. The anabranching stream pattern allows stream water to frequently come in
contact with the soils in the floodplains for a prolonged period, promoting beneficial
biogeochemical processes. This project tested both the change in water and habitat
quality over time, as well as the difference in water and habitat quality between
the restoration phases. Chemical and microbial laboratory analyses have shown that
the water quality has improved since the restoration. Benthic macroinvertebrate data
over an 8-year period demonstrate dissimilar results. The macroinvertebrate community
analysis shows an overall decrease in both water and habitat quality since the restoration.
There is also a significant difference in the macroinvertebrate communities found
between restoration phases, specifically, the stream channel in the anabranching phase
is shown to have lower water and habitat quality than that of the main stem. These
findings are contrary to the expected results for a stream and wetland restoration
project, but may be due to unusually high stream discharges in 2013 compared to earlier
survey periods.
Type
Master's projectPermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/8507Citation
Howington, Jessie (2014). Determining Stream and Wetland Health in an Urban Restored Riparian Ecosystem in Durham
NC through Benthic-macroinvertebrate Surveys. Master's project, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/8507.Collections
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