A study of macroinvertebrates in Carp Creek: a first-order, cold water stream.

General EcologyWe examined the first order, cold‐water stream Carp Creek for macroinvertebrate diversity and biomass. The Creek springs naturally from the ground, filtering out macroinvertebrates before forming the headwaters. Our hypothesis is that macroinvertebrate diversity and biomass will increase on a gradient as distance from the headwaters increases. We sampled the entire length of the Creek for macroinvertebrate specimens as well as the abiotic variables: nitrates (NO3), dissolved oxygen, temperature and flow volume. We tested whether there were any relationships between macroinvertebrate mass/diversity and distance from the headwaters or abiotic factors. Our analysis indicates that there was no relationship between either diversity or biomass and any of the variables measured. However, there was a significant relation between nitrate concentration and distance from the headwaters. Furthermore, we found that nitrates were positively related with species richness, but are unable to establish any direct correlations because of the multiplicity of nitrate sources in water (Grimm 1988).http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78340/1/Ernst_Ramsey_Robinson_2010.pd