Stream Team Sampling and Training Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Fourteen Master Naturalists led by MN George Lauster gathered on the banks of the Little Maumelle River Saturday, along the Kingfisher Trail at Pinnacle Mountain State Park. We were fortunate that Tropical Storm Ike had held off till later the night, leaving us with just cloudy skies and a slight breeze.

Our first find of the morning occurred before most had arrived when Larry Cross discovered a baby alligator snapping turtle.

We started the morning inspecting the riparian area before splitting up into teams to measure the stream’s flow, chemistry and benthic macroinvertebrates (sediment bugs). There were still wood debris piles and other signs of Tropical Storm Gustav’s massive flooding that extended to the parking lot.

Bert Turner lead the flow team, Bill Toland coached the bug collectors, while Martha Bowden and I did the chemistry. Collecting bugs was the highlight for both the veterans and the newbies. We didn’t spend much time identifying them there as we all headed up to the visitor center for some advanced training.

I gave a presentation to help us understand better why the stream team exists. We tried to imaging what life is like from the viewpoint of a stream bug or fish, then connected our view to the stressors that stream scientists and managers are concerned about. We tied it up by going over the different riparian, chemistry and bug indicators we use as a stream team. For me the fun part was then breaking folks up into small groups that each became more expert on group of similar looking bugs. Each group then put their new knowledge to work identifying the bugs present in our samples.

We found nine types of macrointertebrates, including mayfly and stone fly larvae. These two types are sensitive to pollution.

Along with the chemistry results, this suggested that this portion of the Little Maumelle River is in great health and recovered after just two weeks since the massive flooding of Tropical Storm Gustav. The only criticism I got afterwards was that we don’t do this enough. Current plans are to sometimes help Game and Fish and other organizations with their sampling efforts, giving us a chance to see how things differ among streams.

Written by MN George Lauster

Box Turtles of Park Hill by Master Naturalist Darcia Routh Tuesday, August 12, 2008

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Here is a photo of a my box turtle—I call her Dolly—laying her eggs in late June.

The night before she’d entertained folks from Central AR Horticultural Society who came to enjoy my wildlife garden. She looks much more serious than usual here.

The babies may hatch as early as late August, though I hear they usually stay in the nest for up to a year afterward. It’s a cruel world out there, especially since the nest is in the middle of my St Augustine lawn.

I am acquainted with an additional 9 box turtles who’ve spent some of their time at my place. It seemed like I ran a Box Turtle Free Love Compound last summer. Scuffy was “keeping company” with a number of the ladies, including the old turtle who has lived in my yard for 40 years:

It is very easy to maintain optimal box turtle habitat. They love to rustle around in leaf litter, so I leave my oak leaves in most of my garden beds as mulch. They enjoy a drink or a dip in a ground level plant saucer. They like fruit and veggie scraps and will return to the spot where you put them regularly to check for a hand out. Old strawberries and overripe tomatoes are a hit with my crew. They also eat a number of common garden pests like slugs and bugs.

Two of the younger crowd, both around 4 inches long:

Both immature box turtles are probably male, given the red markings and red eyes. The scuffs on the one were likely to be dog-inflicted. Dogs seem to really enjoy gathering up box turtles and carrying them around. My cat is indifferent to them, which no doubt improves my chances for turtle fostering.

Written by ‘darcia’ , Central Arkansas Master Naturalist