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Franklin Press: “Beauty is in the eye of the…fish?”

 

From The Franklin Press, April 4, 2014:

Aquatic Biomonitoring - Brook Trout

We’ve all heard the saying, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” The truth behind this well-known phrase is obvious when you visit some of the many streams of the southern Appalachian Mountains, because each person’s idea of beauty determines the state of their land and streams. Do streams that appear “pretty” or “clean” to us also function as “healthy” streams? The answer to that question is a matter of perspective. To gain some perspective, let us consider a “beautiful” stream from the eyes of a fish.

From the viewpoint of a native brook trout, for example, a deep pool in a tributary stream of the Little Tennessee River might provide relief from the summer heat. The stretch of stream this fish calls home was well shaded: trees, bushes, and grass all contribute to keeping the trout’s home cool by providing the same kind of insulation to the waterway that a fisherman’s ice chest supplies to cold beverages. Earlier in his life, the trout might have ventured downstream to hunt for bugs, frogs, and other food, but he could have been forced to turn back after reaching a section of stream with no logs or leaves in the water.

This “clean” stretch of stream would be unwelcoming to a trout, because it provides no hiding places from predators, and the unshaded water is also too warm for the trout’s liking. Warm water doesn’t hold oxygen as well as cooler temperatures, so breathing would be difficult. This lack of creature comforts would be unbearable when coupled with the scarcity of insects and other prey. The trout would not only have been hot and uncomfortable if he stayed, he would have gone hungry.

So, the trout might head back upstream to his home stretch, where there are deep pools to seek shelter and small rapids to frolic in where the water flowed quickly over cobbles and rocks. The trout might have a favorite hiding spot there under an old partially submerged log. That’s where he could have concealed himself from larger fish when he was young and small. Food is abundant in this home stretch of water. Insect larvae could be found among the gravel and mats of leaves that were caught up in fallen branches, and frogs could be snatched from the water’s edge. Further, when the trout found a nice female trout, he knew the gravels in his neighborhood would be attractive to her as she made a nest to lay eggs.

A good home for the trout is also good for other animals, such as native crayfish, stream salamanders, and many insects. The combination of gravel and fallen trees of the streambed serves the trout and his neighbors by providing the resources they need to survive and reproduce. In this natural state, the stream is beautiful to the trout, and rich with life.

While the trout cannot describe what makes his stream beautiful, his presence indicates his appreciation for its features. Natural debris such as fallen logs, leaves, sticks, and large rocks, create the variety of spaces that provide for the diverse needs of wildlife. A stream that looks messy, untidy or in need of a raking to us, is an ideal piece of real estate for a trout.

People can make streams inhospitable to fish and other animals when they landscape their yards with grassy lawns down to the water’s edge. This looks inviting to us and certainly provides a nice spot to watch the stream go by. So, a “healthy” stream may be different from what people see as a “beautiful” or “clean” stream. Yet, our perception of beauty can also be fluid like the stream itself. Many of us like to go fishing, and if we think fishfilled streams are beautiful, we may grow to appreciate the untidy and overgrown streams that fish need.

Many of you act as stewards of the land and water in this region, and it’s up to you to decide how to manage these resources: for your aesthetic values; as critical sources of clean water for the southeast; as the water supply for your home, livestock or irrigation; or as quality wildlife habitat. If you are interested in learning more about caring for your stream, contact Jason Meador, [email protected] or 828-524-2711, ext. 309, at the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee (LTLT) for information on the Shade Your Streams initiative or to participate in the LTLT rollout of the Southern Appalachian Stream Visual Assessment Protocol (saSVAP).

This column is produced by members of the Coweeta Listening Project (CLP), a branch of the Coweeta Long Term Ecological Research Program, [email protected].

Franklin Press: ‘Asking the question: What is a stream, anyway?’

From The Franklin Press, March 28, 2014

shade-1If you have been following our recent columns, you already know about a new partnership between students from the University of Georgia’s Integrative Conservation (ICON) program, the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee (LTLT), and the Coweeta Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Project this spring.

This partnership is focused on developing a plan to implement a Stream Visual Assessment Protocol (SVAP) specific to the southern Appalachian region, known colloquially as “saSVAP.” The saSVAP is a method for monitoring and evaluating stream health that can be readily used by anyone after a brief training, even those without formal scientific training. But after learning about this protocol, you may be wondering a very important question – what is a stream, anyway? Does the channel that only sometimes has running water in it count? (Hint: it does!) And why do we care?

In response to the first question, a stream is a runningbody of water in a
natural low area or channel, distinguished from a river based primarily on the fact that streams are smaller in size. The majority of the country’s water is found in streams, including those that do not flow all of the time. Many of the nation’s streams remain unnamed and do not appear on maps, but they provide the backbone of our river systems. These smaller water bodies are very important as they feed into and form our larger river systems, and their health is critical to the well-being of the entire river network. All streams drain an area of land that is proportional to its size, known as its drainage basin. Any precipitation that falls in the basin eventually reaches the stream through various flow paths, and the conditions of the basin can dictate the overall health of the stream.

Streams can be classified into three different types. The first is perennial, where the stream flows consistently all year long, under normal weather conditions. A second kind is intermittent, where the stream channel only contains water for part of the year, typically in the winter and spring months. A final type of stream that can be found is ephemeral. Typically this type of stream only contains water after a rain event. Ephemeral streams are not usually regulated by any sort of overseeing body such as the US Forest Service, but they do have an impact on the larger river system.

Streams, even those that flow only part of the year, have many important functions, for people and wildlife alike. These flowing water bodies provide flood protection by absorbing excess rainwater and snowfall and prevent harmful flooding in neighboring and downstream communities. Streams are a critical source of drinking water and also help to recharge groundwater, which provides an underground, longer lasting source of water. They provide habitat for fish and other important critters like salamanders, crayfish, mussels and several threatened and endangered species. Streams can help recycle nutrients, like nitrogen and phosphorus, which could reduce harmful impacts further downstream. Farmers depend on clean water from streams to irrigate their crops, and agriculture constitutes a large percentage of total freshwater withdrawals in the country.

It is also important to recognize that ditches made by humans can also provide habitat, and the water found in the ditch will eventually find its way into the stream system and impact its status. Any activities that occur in a stream’s drainage basin have the potential to influence the well-being of the stream, and it is important to be cognizant of the connectivity of the entire system.

Now that you have some information regarding “what is a stream, anyway”, you are one step closer to becoming a potential saSVAP volunteer. If you would like to get involved with the LTLT and their new stream monitoring program is invited to contact Jason Meador at [email protected] or at 828-524-2711 ext. 309.

This column is produced by members of the Coweeta Listening Project (CLP), a branch of the Coweeta Long Term Ecological Research Program. Views expressed here are not representative of the USDA Forest Service or the Coweeta Hydrologic Lab.

Franklin Press: saSVAP article, what is a stream

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