Study Number: 

3009

Project Title:

Benthic organic matter (BOM) standing crops along the Ball Creek / Coweeta Creek elevational gradient.

Investigator(s):

E. F. Benfield  E-Mail | Tel. 540.231.5802 | Biographical Sketch
J.R. Webster  E-Mail | Tel. 540.231.5802 | Biographical Sketch
Affiliated Institution(s): Virginia Tech
Address: Biology Department
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, Virginia 24061   USA
Study Category: Aquatic
Project Type: Type 1
Study Period:

04/1991 - 07/1992
Notes:

 
Funding Source(s):

National Science Foundation, Grants DEB-9632854 (Text Version) and DEB-0218001 (Text Version) to Coweeta LTER.
Abstract: We investigated how benthic organic matter (BOM) standing CR varied over space and time in the context of an elevational stream-size gradient. Samples were collected with a stratified random procedure to also study how BOM varied with respect to the major habitat patches within the stream. Habitat patch include cobble-riffle, sandy-reach, and rock.
Location(s), Described: Ball Creek and Coweeta Creek.
Location(s), Download GPS: ArcView Shape Files (shp.):  Decimal Degrees | UTM, NAD83, Zone 17
Location(s), Online Map(s): Online Map
Methods/Experimental Design: Benthic Organic Matter stading crops:
A. Coarse particulate and wood for sandy reaches and cobble-riffles habitats - metal corer (0.071 m2) inserted into sediments 10 cm and material removed by hand. Water and remaining material pumped into 20 L bucket with a bilge pump. Bucket covered with a 1mm mesh net to separate coarse and fines.
B. Fine particulate organic matter - water in bucket subsampled with a 120ml bottle. Filtered onto pre-weighted, pre-ashed glass-fiber filter. All material oven dried at 55 C, weighed, ashed at 550 C and reweighed to determine ash-free-dry-mass.
C. Rock-face habitats - same method as above, except scraped rock with brush and used a 0.04 m2 metal corer.

NOTE: coarse is > 1mm mesh size | fine is < 1mm mesh size
Variable Formats:
I2 DAY no
I2 MONTH no
I2 YEAR no
A3 SUBS yes
A3 SITES yes
F7.2 GCPOM no g
F7.2 GWOOD no g
F7.2 GFPOM no g
SUBS SR = sandy-reach
CR = cobble-riffle
RF = rock-face
[1-3] = sample replicate for each substrate
SITE 27L = Ball Creek above weir 27 - approx. 100m above weir 27.
UBC = Upper Ball Creek - approx. 100m above old weir 20.
LBC = Lower BAll Creek - approx. 60m above weir 9
CC = Coweeta Creek - starts at confluence of Ball Creek and Shope Fork
Sampling Frequency: Every other month.
Data Columns: DAY - day
MONTH - month
YEAR - year
SUBS - substrate type and sample
SITE - site locations
GCPOM - grams of coarse particulate organic matter which is non-woody
GWOOD - grams woody material
GFPOM - grams of fine particulate organic matter

Missing Data Codes:  . (Period)
Publications:

Golladay, S.W., J. R. Webster, and E. F Benfield. 1989. Changes in stream benthic organic matter following watershed disturbance. Holarctic Ecology 12: 96-105.
Data Restrictions: Users must adhere to the Coweeta LTER Data Policy.
Metadata: EML Format (XML Schema) | Information about EML
Data Downloads: Microsoft® Excel (.xls)
 Text Comma Delimited (.csv)
 DBase (.dbf)