Stoneflies and campers: teaching campers about aquatic environments - Environmental Literacy at Camp

The stonefly is just a common insect inhabiting small streams. So why should campers care about them?

As small and inconspicuous as aquatic insects might appear, they provide a fascinating and easily accessed means of involving campers in nature study. The more campers understand about the fine details of the environment, the more responsible stewards they can be for the planet as a whole, as they see just how much their needs for survival are similar to those of creatures other than humans.

Biology of a Stream

Stream insects, or "benthic macroinvertebrates', as they are known to biologists and entomologists, (benthic means living on the bottom, and macroinvertebrate means a creature without a backbone that you can see with your naked eye), provide an inexpensive and fun way to learn about the ecology of a local body of water, see food webs in action, and connect people with a segment of the animal kingdom that essentially goes unnoticed to all but the most astute angler or natural history buff.

Explorations of aquatic organisms can make better naturalists out of all of us. For example, if your camp has a fishing program, the ecology of aquatic insects can provide important clues to the behavior of fish. When and where are the fish living? Where are they feeding? What are they eating? What are they doing at the surface of the water?

The stonefly, in particular, makes a good study subject. The stonefly needs a plentiful source of oxygen, a place for shelter against the elements and menaces, a reliable food supply, and most of all, high quality water. Consequently, immature stoneflies react negatively to the effects of degraded environmental quality.

Aquatic insects such as stoneflies are being increasingly used as indicators of water quality. As "indicators", insects provide important information (although not always indisputable answers) about the overall quality of water in a stream. Because certain types of life have higher sensitivity to disturbances and pollutants than do others, these sensitive indicators may be able to give us valuable information about water quality that we might not obtain with even an expensive electronic meter.

Becoming a Water Quality Detective

The use of insects such as stoneflies in assessing water quality is known as biomonitoring. By using strategies such as biomonitoring, camps can provide a means for youth to explore the natural world, and take home skills that relate to the environment and water quality.

It is unlikely that information gathered about the populations of stream insect communities will ever replace the data garnered through laboratory testing. Rather, biotic monitoring provides a perspective on a stream community from the angle of the life in the stream, instead of from the perspective of the scientist who may drop in to take samples at periods when little is amiss in the stream, or perhaps when conditions appear to be highly impacted.

Maybe a store of uncomposted manure had washed into the water two months back, the effects of last summer's drought had left portions of the stream bed dry for several weeks, or perhaps the accidental release of a large quantity of deep water from the dam five miles upstream had temporarily changed the temperature of the stream for many days in the middle of a normally warm season. The meter-wielding water scientist would probably find little evidence of these events through a quick water test.

The insects living in the stream over the past eight to twelve months undoubtedly would have been affected by such conditions, however. Immature aquatic insects do not yet possess the ability to pick up and fly to 'greener pastures' when the ambient conditions in the stream deteriorate. For this reason, the presence of a pollution-sensitive creature in the stream indicates not only that the water quality is currently acceptable for the insect to sustain a living, but also that conditions have probably been just fine for most of the creature's life.

Basics of Biomonitoring

Because biomonitoring can be accomplished with a minimum of fancy equipment, it makes for a great nature study activity for summer camps. To take a closer peek at what organisms are living in the streams around your camp, all you'll need is a. shallow white-bottomed container. While white dish pans are excellent, quart-sized yogurt containers or cottage cheese containers work well and help to reuse some potential throw-away items at your camp. Additional equipment you might consider buying or making yourself include aquatic nets, magnifying boxes, and light-weight forceps. Some groups have used wire-mesh kitchen strainers and white plastic spoons to collect and pick up critters.

The invertebrates living in the stream on or adjacent to your camp property can be monitored weekly by groups of campers. After you have looked at your sample, it is important to return the creatures in your pan back to the water, gently. You can chart the changes in the stream community over the months that camp is in session, and also over years from one camp season to the next. Compare differences over time and see if you can correlate those changes with other environmental factors such as weather or land use. If the group is interested in getting a closer look through a microscope, you can opt to preserve one or two of each type of invertebrate in 70 percent ethyl alcohol solution. Be mindful of only preserving as many as you need.

Some states and provinces require anyone collecting invertebrates (whether or not they are preserved in alcohol) to purchase a collecting license, and document the numbers and types of invertebrates that were collected from your streams. In New York State, the licenses cost $10 per year, and are available through the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Check with your conservation agency before you set out on your stream exploration. Your conservation officer may have some suggestions of methods to use, places to sample, or cautions about disturbing sensitive trout habitats. He or she may even be able to come out to lend a hand on your collecting trip.

Summer provides the perfect opportunity for kids to get excited about mucking around in places that might not be available to them during the more rigidly scheduled school year. And environmental experiences like biomonitoring let kids get a close-up view into an extraordinary world that otherwise might have gone unnoticed, while they absorb information that will impact their views of science and the environment.

Environmental education can take place anywhere - not just in nature centers. As you learn and observe along with your campers, you'll provide an excellent example of enthusiasm for the outdoors. It all starts by turning over a few rocks.

Karen Edelstein is an aquatic education specialist in the Cornell University Department of Natural Resources. Among her current efforts is developing materials and giving training workshops for SAREP, the 4-H Sportfishing and Aquatic Resources Education Program. One of her goals in life is to get everyone as excited about catching (and releasing!) stoneflies and mayflies as they are about catching fish. For More Information

There are several current resources that can get you started on a biomonitoring program, or can simply provide an introduction to the intriguing world of aquatic invertebrates.

Pond and Stream Safari, publication 147L24; Ithaca: Cornell Cooperative Extension; $12.75.

An in-depth view of aquatic insect ecology with information on using aquatic insects to determine levels of water quality. Its 56 pages offer a wealth of information and activities. To order, contact your county Cooperative Extension, or order direct from the Cornell University Resource Center, 7 Business and Technology Park, Ithaca, New York 14850.

Save Our Streams. A program run by the Izaak Walton League that focuses specifically on biomonitoring. For more information, contact the Izaak Walton League of America, 1401 Wilson Boulevard, Level B, Arlington, Virginia 22209; 703/528-1818.

Aquatic Entomology, by W. Patrick McCafferty; Boston: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 1983; $37.50.

A fisherman's and ecologist's guide to aquatic insects and their relatives.

Freshwater Macroinvertebrates of Northeastern North America, by Barbara Peckarsky and Pierre Fraissinet; Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1990; $26.50.

Dichotomous key to aquatic invertebrates; for advanced level insect identification.

Pond Life, by George K. Reid; New York: Golden Press, 1987; $4.95.

Full-color guide to reptiles, amphibians, insects and other plants and animals associated with ponds, lakes and streams.

Project Mayfly, by Katharine Widmer; Camp Hill, Pennsylvania: National Audubon Society, 1992; $6.

Described as a guide to the determination of water pollution in local waterways, this 3-ring notebook is designed for the secondary-school level and includes many charts, exercises and study sheets. To order, contact the National Audubon Society, Mid-Atlantic Regional Office, 1104 Fernwood Avenue, #300, Camp Hill, Pennsylvania 17011; 717/763-4985.

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