UAF Cripple Creek and Nome Creek post-restoration invertebrate studies

A tributary of Nome Creek near the Mt. Prindle Campground. Kevin Fraley photo.

Dakota Keller, biology masters student at UAF, is currently studying the potential changes in aquatic insect and invertebrate communities following stream restoration practices on Cripple Creek, in Fairbanks, and Nome Creek, in the White Mountain Recreation Area. Both of these streams have a legacy of gold mining, which has resulted in diminished fish habitat and has consequently made them candidates for testing stream restoration techniques geared towards increasing quality and quantity of fish habitat. Two seasons of macroinvertebrate samples will comprise her master’s thesis project and help to characterize the early stages of recovery of these two streams. The macroinvertebrate community data will be used to assess how stream restorations mature over time biologically and the potential implications to fish food and habitat.

Sarah Nyland (left) and Rachel Cox (right), UAF undergraduates, picking aquatic invertebrates from a sample at Nome Creek. The invertebrates are then transferred to a vial of ethanol to be later identified under a microscope.

The final round of sampling wrapped up this summer with the help of two undergraduate researchers, Sarah Nyland and Rachel Cox. They assisted with collecting and processing macroinvertebrate samples as part of their experience working with the Alaska Rivers Lab this summer under the mentorship of Dakota and her advisor, Jeff Muehlbauer. This entailed enumerating and identifying macroinvertebrates to family or genus and weighing samples to estimate macroinvertebrate biomass. Comparing the relative abundances of species will help us better understand what available prey for the fish in these two systems and give us insight into how our restoration actions are changing the habitat on a biological level.

Caddisfly species can be useful indicators of water quality. Pictured here is a caddisfly, from the Brachycentrus genus, in its portable casing under the microscope

Lab processing and data analysis of the macroinvertebrate communities for both Cripple Creek and Nome Creek are expected to wrap up this winter with final results this spring.

Caddisflies, from the Limnephilidae family, separated from their casings and ready to be weighed

Questions or comments on this effort? Please contact dkeller14@alaska.edu

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