Interview with Stroud Senior Scientist Dr. Tom Bott about the Bucks County, PA Project

February 1, 2008

Dr. Tom Bott sampling streamwater

What is your current job?

Senior Research Scientist and Vice President, Stroud Water Research Center and Adjunct Professor, Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania.

What is your research interest?

Microbial ecology of aquatic ecosystems, particularly streams and rivers, with focus on primary productivity and energy flow, microbes in food webs and trophic interactions, nutrient cycling, population dynamics and ecology of introduced bacteria, effects of perturbations on function.

How did you become interested in science?

What made you decide to study streams? I remember how much I enjoyed 10^th grade biology, although at that time we memorized a lot of life histories and phyla characteristics. One day while hiking in the forest with my Dad I saw some moss and it dawned on me that I was looking at the gametophyte and sporophyte generations. I realized that what I was learning in class was actually happening in nature.

My interest in biology continued into college. For a microbiology class project I generated mutant bacteria - this experience made the science come to life. It was during graduate school that I realized that my true interest was microbial ecology. We were conducting a research project on bacteria that caused food poisoning that we traced back to fish from the Great Lakes. How did the bacteria get into the fish? Were fish all over the Great Lakes carrying the bacteria, or were they found in only some places? Merging the bacteriology and ecology was fascinating.

What is the Bucks County project?

A fairly intense water quality study was conducted on the streams in Bucks County in the late 1960’s. The purpose of the initial study was to establish the quality of quality of Bucks County’s water resources for future planning purposes.

Our current project involves a team of SWRC scientists studying the water quality of 11 streams that were part of the initial Bucks County study. We are replicating parts of the original study to determine how the water quality conditions have changed between the late 1960’s and now. The passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972 provides an interesting opportunity to see what effect environmental regulations have had on these streams. At each stream we are studying:

• Macroinvertebrates (aquatic invertebrates such as insects, worms, and crustaceans) View a macroinvertebrates slideshow
• Water chemistry
• Phytoplankton (suspended algae) View photo
• Periphyton (algae growing on surfaces)
• Macrophytes (aquatic plants) View photo
• Coliform bacteria

Tinicum Creek, Bucks County, PA

What do you find interesting about this study?

We hope to gain a better understanding of how a stream responds to changes in its watershed. I find that this is a great opportunity to look at the effects of long-term changes in watersheds on the streams that drain them. Most environmental data is collected over the short term. Having the opportunity to compare a data set collected almost 40 years ago to a current data set is unusual.

What can the public learn from this study?

People can see if things that should be improving our streams - such as regulations or planning - are working, or if water quality is either unchanged or perhaps even deteriorating in spite of our efforts.

A closer look at the stream bottom
reveals areas of excess
algae growth and sediment

What are some results that you are finding?

The data has not been fully analyzed yet. It’s too early to say if all the parameters tested will show the same trends. My guess is that some streams will be worse, some may stay the same, and others may improve. It may be that one aspect of the study will show improvement but another aspect will not, even on the same stream. The interesting part will be interpreting why changes have occurred. Have certain streams improved due to better sewage treatment? Have streams degraded due to greater development pressures, road building or because a dam was constructed?