Riparian Habitat Assessment

7/21/24

Habitat Assessment

Total Score: 114/200

Epifaunal Substrate/Available Cover

Score: 14

The bottom of the brook was covered almost entirely in sand and silt though there were a few riffles where gravel was exposed. Even fewer riffles had cobble-sized stones like those shown in the top photo. There were some small logs, both freshly fallen and old, in the water. One bend had a huge amount of relatively fresh woody debris, including small fallen trees, caught in it.

Embeddedness

Score: 1

Most gravel and cobbles are over 100% embedded. There were a couple of riffles with gravel, though.

Velocity/Depth Regime

Score: 10

The brook is almost entirely slow-shallow and fast-shallow. One 23 meter stretch contained only slow-shallow flow (streamflow was 0.18 m/s), but everything else I saw had a decent combination of both fast-shallow and slow-shallow. I only saw a single small spot that was deeper than 0.5 m.

Sediment Deposition

Score: 4

There were significant sediment deposits of silt, sand, and gravel. Fine sediments coated most of the bottom of the brook. The brook's bends were slightly deeper than the riffle areas, but some pools were obstructed by deposited sediments.

Channel Flow Status

Score: 9

The Riffle substrate was all covered. However, the water level was significantly lower than the erosion marks on the bank.

Channel Alteration

Score: 17

There was one small wooden footbridge over the brook, but the rest looked unaltered.

Frequency of bends

Score: 17

The average ratio between the bend distance and brook width was about 6:1.

Bank Stability

Left Bank Score: 4

Right Bank Score: 5

There were areas of small-scale bank sloughing on both sides of the brook. Around 50% of the right bank had small erosional scars while closer to 40% of the left bank had small erosional scars.

(right and left banks were identified while facing downstream)

Vegetative Protection

Left Bank Score: 7

Right Bank Score: 6

Around 90% of the left bank and 80% of the right bank were covered by vegetation. There was, however, invasive bush honeysuckle and broad-leaved orchids (not for long, though). Both banks lacked significant native woody shrubs as well.

Riparian Vegetative Zone Width

Left Bank Score: 10

Right Bank Score: 10

There are significantly more than 18 meters of forest on both sides of the brook. This forest is interrupted only by hiking trails.

Water Sampling (Results)

Temperature: 61.1°F, 16.2°C

pH: 6.6

Average Conductivity: 384 µS/cm

E.coli: TEST IN PROGRESS

This is my first attempt at sketching the brook. I think it would benefit from some labeling.

This is a drawing of a broad-leaved orchid (Epipactis helleborine) I found by the brook. It is invasive in Vermont.

Reflection

After murdering around 30 mosquitoes, I found my time by the brook more enjoyable. It was nice to have an excuse to explore a stretch that I'd never seen before and hang out. There were some negative aspects of the experience, however. One annoying thing, in addition to the mosquitoes, was the fact that I forgot to bring my regular pencil and to sharpen my watercolor pencils. Additionally, the habitat assessment also made me a little nervous because a lot of it is up to interpretation. Eric's pictures on the website were helpful, but I wish there were even more to compare. I was also disappointed by the habitat quality of the brook. The large amounts of sediment meant a lack of good macroinvertebrate habitat. I also saw at least three invasive plants. My favorite thing I saw while at the brook was wild orchids (Epipactis helleborine), but when I got home, I found out that they, too are invasive. While I wish I could have found a native orchid, I'm glad I learned about another invasive species to look out for.

More Observations:

Air temperature: 74° Fahrenheit, 23.3° Celsius

Weather: There was rain around 4:50 am today, but it was completely sunny (no clouds) the whole time measurements and observations were made.

Tree cover: The brook was about 85% shaded

Mosquito report: There were a LOT of mosquitoes

Tree types seen within 18 meters of brook:

Hemlock, red oak, elm, red maple, sugar maple, basswood, white ash, beech, yellow birch, alternate-leaved dogwood

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