A Macroinvertebrate Survey of Sandy Creek in Durham County, NC: A Comparative Study of Post-Restoration and Pre-Restoration Surveys
Abstract
Sandy Creek, located within the Cape Fear watershed within the Triassic Basin of North
Carolina, is a first order stream within a tributary watershed that feeds into Jordan
Lake reservoir. A biological assessment, following the NCDENR Benthic Standard Operating
Procedure, was performed and all macroinvertebrates were identified at three sites
over three months within the upper Sandy Creek watershed within Duke University Wetland
Center’s Stream and Wetland Assessment Management Park (SWAMP). This was done three
years post-restoration in 2008. Mud Creek, Sandy Creek’s reference stream, was also
sampled in 2008. This bioassessment was performed as a follow up to the baseline macroinvertebrate
survey completed pre-restoration in 2004/2005 and to determine the restoration’s effect
on its macroinvertebrates and water quality. The biotic index values calculated from
the pre-restoration and post-restoration macroinvertebrate tolerance and abundance
levels indicated a decrease in biotic index value or an increase in water quality
(6.7 pre-restoration to 6.4 post-restoration). The biotic index values calculated
for the three post-restoration sites show a water quality improvement as the water
flows through the restoration (6.58 input to 6.434 midpoint to 6.42output) which may
indicate that the restoration is increasing stream function. The macroinvertebrate
orders and feeding types that were collected provided additional information on the
difference between pre- and post-restoration Sandy Creek.
Type
Master's projectPermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/951Citation
Still, Jean (2009). A Macroinvertebrate Survey of Sandy Creek in Durham County, NC: A Comparative Study
of Post-Restoration and Pre-Restoration Surveys. Master's project, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/951.Collections
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