Spencer Creek Disturbance and Rehabilitation EarthCache

Stream Corridors 

A watershed includes all of the land that drains toward the tributaries and river, including tableland areas. The stream corridor is a transition zone between the river and the adjacent tablelands. It is the backbone of the watershed ecosystem. The corridor consists of the valley form, adjacent vegetation, and significant natural areas. The stream channel, valley walls, floodplain forests, riparian (stream side) meadows, and wetlands are important constituents as they help define the corridor boundaries. Other important features such as groundwater seepage zones and intermittent watercourses also define the corridor. Each component is directly linked, and has particular biological, chemical and physical functions that are essential to the health of the stream, its inhabitants and the watershed.

Disturbances Affecting Stream Corridors

Disturbances affecting stream corridors can be broken down into two main categories, naturally occurring and human induced. Floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, fire, lightning, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, insects and disease, landslides, temperature extremes, and drought are among the many natural events that disturb structure and functions in the stream corridor. Human-induced disturbances brought about by land use activities undoubtedly have the greatest potential for introducing enduring changes to the ecological structure and functions of stream corridors.

Human induced disturbances can be further broken down into three categories: chemical, biological and physical. Chemically defined disturbance effects, for example, can be introduced through many activities including agriculture (pesticides and nutrients), urban activities (municipal and industrial waste contaminants), and mining (acid mine drainage and heavy metals). Biologically defined disturbance effects occur within species (competition, cannibalism, etc.) and among species (competition, predation, etc.). Physical disturbance effects occur at any scale from landscape and stream corridor to stream and reach, where they can cause impacts locally or at locations far removed from the site of origin. 

Logging Tasks

The answers to the following questions can be obtained from the plaque, the cache description and the surrounding environment. Please send the answers via the “Message the owner” link at the top of the page. I would ask you send your answers before logging, but you do not need to wait for confirmation before making your log. Logs without answers received will be periodically removed.

1. What is the area of the Spencer Creek Watershed (in km²)?

2. What are the disturbances that Spencer Creek has experienced? What major type of disturbances are these? List the subcategory (chemical, biological or physical) that each disturbance falls into.

3. What are the three features (as listed on the plaque), that were introduced by the restoration project?

4. Looking directly behind the plaque in the creek, can you identify one of these features? Looking to the left and right of the plaque (again in the creek), can you identify another one of features (one to the left and one to the right)?

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References

1. https://cdn.website-editor.net/a46ec8be333642209835c758be53898c/files/uploaded/Ontario%2520Streams%2520Rehabilitation%2520Manual.pdf

2. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb1044574.pdf

3. https://www.hamiltonnews.com/community-story/8592760-spencer-creek-rehab-seeks-to-reintroduce-walleye/