Hanlon Creek eDNA Project 2019

Urbanization is raising stream temperatures, reducing shaded areas and changing the flow of the river all of which are unfavourable changes for Brook Trout. Brook Trout thrive in colder waters because they spawn in areas where cooler groundwater enters the stream. Brook Trout also prefer other cooler places in the stream including shady areas or pools with higher discharges. Their sensitivity to these changes and their role as a predator at the top of the food chain makes Brook Trout a great indicator species for the relative health of the stream as a whole.

Hanlon Creek flows into the Speed River and is located in the south end of Guelph . This creek is a cold water tributary to the Speed River which means it provides key conditions for Brook Trout success. Deforestation, damming, pollution and fragmentation have disturbed natural conditions as a consequence of urban development.

We have the opportunity to work with the Speed Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited to further their conservation efforts on Brook Trout. To assist with Trout Unlimited's ongoing conservation project, we will be monitoring the presence of Brook Trout using cutting-edge eDNA technology. eDNA surveys are an alternative, non-invasive method to electrofishing which can be harmful to fish. We plan to undertake this project in the summer of 2019 in order to gather contemporary, and baseline data for comparative analysis with previous data of Brook Trout occurrence in Hanlon Creek.

We aim to raise money for the supplies and reagents that will be used in the field. The Biodiversity students will be volunteering their time to complete all of the field work during the summer of 2019. Some field equipment will be lent to the students through the Hanner lab at the University of Guelph. With this in mind we aim to raise 5000$ which will be used towards consumables and reagents that are required to run our project. We encourage you to check out our GoFundMe profile by clicking the link at the top of this page.