Each year the Land Trust works with our partners at the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council and incredible volunteers to survey macroinvertebrates in Whychus Creek at several Land Trust Preserves. Macroinvertebrates are animals that lack a backbone, are large enough to see without the use of a microscope, and spend at least some of their lives in and around water. Learn more about macroinvertebrates.

Stewardship associate Gabriel Juarez, who has helped survey the last two years, shares details on the process of macroinvertebrate sampling:

"Macroinvertebrate sampling gives us a glimpse into the response of aquatic life to past, present, and future restoration efforts on Whychus Creek. Mainly conducted by gracious volunteers, each team sampled a particular section of Whychus Creek, deployed with buckets, nets, sampling jars, and data sheets. The sampling that takes place is broken down into different habitat types to provide a more diverse picture of who lives where. Each team carefully collects insects from pools, riffles, side channels, root wads, trees, and everything in between, by placing a fine mesh net on the bottom of the stream bed and disturbing the upstream habitat to allow any dislodged critters to easily float down into the net. Once a section of stream is sampled thoroughly, the macroinvertebrates  are put into sampling jars, where they will eventually be inspected in a lab to identify different species, age class, and corresponding habitats. 

We could not accomplish this in-depth task without the help of our volunteers, partners, and the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council! Each year we learn more and more about how the restoration work the Land Trust does impacts the overall health of the stream."

We look forward to seeing the results of this sampling in the future!

Learn more:

• Super Bugs in our Water
• See the results of the 2022 Macroinvertebrate Monitoring Report of Whychus Creek