Reading the Landscape of the Keweenaw: Natural History Field Trips for Adults focused on water in 2005. GLC is a sponsor of this series and it is planned and implemented through the volunteer efforts of Patricia Van Pelt and Marcia Raley along with GLC Program Director Bonnie Hay.
The July 30 Water Bugs session was held at Gratiot Lake.
Reading the Landscape:
Water Bugs
2005
Walt Summers introduced participants to the myriad of fresh water insects, crustaceans, snails, and worms that inhabit streams. The species variety and quantity of these creatures can be used to assess the quality of the water they live in.
Some participants braved a downpour to survey these macroinvertebrates in 932 Creek which flows into Gratiot on the north side. The 932 was deemed to be of good quality although somewhat compromised by the drought conditions this summer.
Graphic designer, John Van Pelt demonstrated scratchboard art, an ideal medium to capture the forms of insects. He guided participants in excercises using images of invertebrates magnified by projection from GLC’s microscope. (also link to CLMP and MI monitoring websites).
Websites below describe stream ecology and contain keys to stream life:
