Collecting bugs
Aquatic
insects live underneath stones in shallow, fast-moving riffles. Here Emily
Deanne and Jim Worth push rocks into a rectangular net.
Trudy Swenson McKinna Photo |
To help determine
the health of the river, a dozen Shepaug High School students and eight
adults split into teams on May 15, to collect small insects (macroinvertebrates)
at four sites in Roxbury and Washington.
These insects –
stoneflies, caddisflies, mayflies – live beneath stones in shallow,
fast-moving riffles. The sampling program, initiated by a grant from the
Connecticut Community Foundation to Rivers Alliance of Connecticut, is a
joint project of the Roxbury Conservation Commission, Housatonic Valley
Association, and Shepaug River Association.
Plans call for
continuing the program each spring and fall, using a protocol developed by
the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
Some
macroinvertebrates can live only in very clean water; others live in
impaired conditions. The relative abundance of the different types of
organisms determines a measure of water quality. After sorting, the
specimens are put in vials and sent to the DEP for final analysis. |
