Water Bug Report

8 Science 1

Thankyou to all members of the Warrambungle Environmental Education Centre for running this excursion. Thankyou also to Meg Leathart for providing all the equipment and her skills to help us.

Warrambungle EEC

We needed to learn how to:Correctly Identify and tally numbers of collected bugs.Work out the health and running speed of the water in the river.

Learning Intention

We went down to the Namoi River near Cohen's Bridge in Gunnedah.

Where We Went

We Used numerous equipment including:NetsBucketsSorting TraysMagnifying GlassWater Bug GuideRecording Sheet

Equipment

Gumboots/Enclosed ShoesHatSunscreenLong Pants

Personal Protection

We collected samples from different habitudinal areas such as:Rapid Running areasRifflesEdge watersCalm areasMuddy and murky waters

Collecting Samples

Deeper and slower moving waters held specific bugs and quick moving waters held others.Fast Movers (beetles and skimmers)Bottom dwellers (worms and sea larvae)

We caught them by stirring up the water and waving our nets through the murky water.

Where We Caught Them

Identifying Samples

We used the Water Bug Guide and magnifying glass to inspect and identify the numerous bugs and critters caught. We then tallied the bugs and numbers on the Recording Sheet with the:

Sensitivity Weight Bug type

Identification Chart

Sensitivity RatingsVery Tolerant Tolerant Sensitive Very Sensitive

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Mayfly Nymph 14

Stonefly Nymph 2

Freshwater Crayfish 1 Whirligig Beetle And larvae 16 Freshwater Shrimp 14Freshwater Mussel 5

Beetle Larva 1Dragonfly Nymph 1Water Strider 1

Diving Beetle 6Water Boatmen 45Freshwater Worm 2

Bloodworm 1

Total 114

Stream Pollution Index = Total (SR x WF) Total WF   SPI=

125   32 SP= 3.9

Stream Pollution Index

Near 120 bugs were collected over a vast range of species. The Stream Pollution index was calculated at near 4.0. The Stream Quality is rated at fair at the study site.

Conclusion

8 Science 1

8 Science 1