Stroud Water Research Center: Mayfly Club

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MAYFLY CLUB EVENT BRINGS YOUNG STROUD SUPPORTERS TO THE WISSAHICKON

Mayfly Club members examining aquatic macroinvertebrates

Written by Paul Merrylees

A recent gathering of the Mayfly club, a group of young people dedicated to the advancement of Stroud's mission, brought club members together with Stroud Center Director Bern Sweeney and education programs manager, Christina Medved, in Fairmount Park's Wissahickon Valley.

Meeting early on a Saturday morning on the bank of Wissahickon Creek, the group pulled on rubber waders, took up collection nets, and fanned out across the stream to collect samples of macroinvertebrates, water-dwelling insects large enough to be seen with the naked eye. Working together in small groups, the club identified large numbers of black fly larvae, midges, dragonflies, and several mayflies, after which the club takes its name.

Comparing the insects gathered during a 20 minute period to a collection taken by Stroud Center researchers from the White Clay Creek, near the Center's Avondale headquarters, the group was given a dramatic demonstration of the way a stream's resident insect population reflects the quality of its waters. Many macroinvertebrates like a variety of caddisflies, mayflies, and stoneflies, found in large numbers in the White Clay's pristine waters, were conspicuously absent in the Wissahickon, where their place was largely filled by taxa like black fly larvae that are more tolerant of pollution. Bern Sweeney and Cristina Medved explained that high human population density in the Wissahickon watershed, which brings with it a significant amount of industrial and septic pollution, had altered the stream's chemical make-up, rendering it more difficult for most species of mayflies, the ultimate indicator of a healthy stream, to thrive.

Sweeney related that while increased human habitation largely corresponds to decreased water quality, there are a number of measures that communities and municipalities can and do take to reduce the impact, such as reforesting buffer zones along waterways, upgrading sewage treatment plants, and installing rain gardens in smaller neighborhoods and for individual homes.

Conservation measures such as these have a big pay-off: New York City, for example, works aggressively to mitigate the pollution of the streams and rivers that feed into its reservoirs and reaps an enormous benefit: cleaner public drinking water at a reduced cost and with less need for chemical treatments that negatively impact public health.

The event ended with a picnic lunch and a lively discussion between Sweeney, Medved, and club members about the little-known but hugely important role that healthy stream ecosystems play in maintaining high water quality.

View a slideshow of the Wissahickon Creek event.

To learn more about the Stroud Water Research Center's MAYFLY CLUB go to www.stroudcenter.org/friends/mayflyclub or to become a member, please contact Kay Dixon