Biology Commons^™

Vertical, Longitudinal And Seasonal Variation In The Benthic Fauna At The Fernow Experimential Forest, Parsons, West Virginia, Robert William Hood

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Multi-level basket samplers were placed within the shallow hyporheic zone (0 - 30 cm) of first through fourth-order streams in the Elklick Run drainage at the Fernow Experimental Forest, Parsons, West Virginia. Samplers were colonized by macroinvertebrates over three month intervals and collected during three different seasons. Seasonal, longitudinal, and vertical variation in the macroinvertebrate assemblage were examined to better understand the structure and function of the interstitial macroinvertebrate assemblage and important underlying factors. Surber samples were collected for comparison between surface and hyporheic macroinvertebrate assemblages. Temperature, dissolved oxygen, water chemistry, and interstitial water movement were measured at sampler locations. …