Abstract

Stream health is important because of its impact on biotic functions of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. By looking at small factors in streams, such as macroinvertebrates, it can oftentimes show you a larger picture and give you an overall view of a stream’s health. The purpose of this study was to determine the ecological health of restored streams in western North Carolina compared to the previous pre-restoration condition, using macroinvertebrate populations. Populations were totaled and evaluated to find the mean percentage of invertebrates in orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (% EPT) as well as the tolerance levels. Using the Hilsenhoff Family-Based Index of Biotic Integrity (FBIBI) and mean %EPT allowed for a mean number of tolerance levels for each stream to be found. To understand the causation of the population numbers, we tested substrate composition, flow velocity, water depth, FBIBI, and percent EPT. We found correlation between the levels of flow velocity and water depth in relation to the amount of EPT present and tolerance levels. We calculated the habitat quality using the FBIBI numbers for each site. We found that both restoration and reference sites were degrading, but 75% of restoration sites were degrading at a slower rate and therefore had a positive restoration index. The results of this study, allowed us to understand the rate at which the streams were degrading post restoration and that the streams which had been restored degraded at a slower rate compared to the reference sites.

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