Blackwater River Sub-Watershed

                                                                      Journal Entry #2                                            

Location: Blackwater River Shed, from Andover NH to New London NH

Teacher: Alan McIntyre

Goal: To learn about the ecology of the Blackwater River Shed

                  WaterShed= How the high points of land drain water to the lower points
                                                                     Site #1 

                                                     Lets start with the ABC's of ecology


     A: Abiotic factors- nonliving= nutrients

     B: Biotic factors- living interacting with abiotic
     C: Cycles- changes occurring with abiotic
     D: Diversity- parking lot= simple  rain forest= complex
     E: Energy- flowing though system

These ABC's are the same in any system

Blackwater got it name from the color of its water. The organics, like the leaves in the river make it tea colored. Just as you would infuse herbs in hot water to make tea, the leaves that fall from the trees and land in the river have the same affect. Though Blackwater is fairly clean now in the past New London would dump millions of gallons of its waste water into the river. Blackwater being the name for raw sewage seemed to be very fitting name for the river at the time. At the time Blackwater was a low use river. Which meant no one was using it for water, recreation, or agriculture. Which made it an ideal choice for New London to employ. This was before the public had an idea that this river would lead to other rivers and evenly to the ocean. Affecting many other people, places, and animals along the way. Which meant no long was their sewage their problem but the problems of people unseen to them.

   Abiotic factors of site #1 = sand and rock
18 to 20 million years ago when the last glacier was moving out of NH that was 500 feet taller than Mount Kearsarge. It Pulled up rocks and deposited them in other places. It also brought with it some of the sand that we see today at the Blackwater. The river itself does a nice job of transporting abiotic factor as well. On the path that we took to get to the first site we were walking on sand that was from the river even though we were at least 20 feet away. This indicates that when the river floods it comes to this point and deposits sand as it continues to flow. This is extremely helpful to the forest because when the river floods it brings sand its give the forest different nutrients that it normally wouldnt get. Making the forest stronger. Also the lose sand on the path benefits the turtles that must lay their eggs there.

      Turbidity- Amount of sediment in water
This can go along with the amount of abiotic factors in the water. If many of the abiotics are able to float than it will create a high turbidity. When the turbidity of a river is high than less sunlight can reach the bottom of it, which in turn means less photosynthesis can occur.  If no photosynthesis is occurring than there will be less oxygen in the water. Oxygen being the limiting factor of the river.

   pH: Will affect the type of plant and animals that are able to survive in its water. (the more hydrogen ions make it basic. Low ions make it acidic.)
Temperature: affects the range of tolerance with the species as well

 pH of Blackwater at site #1= 6.5

Temperature = 58 degrees Fahrenheit

Phosphates= 4 high (from the resent floods)- runoff

We didnt have as much luck when trying to find the biotic factors of the river. Having only found one stone fly, no conclusion of the health of the river can be obtained from that. Though stone flies cant tolerant any pollution what so ever. If we had searched longer and found more than we could determine that the Blackwater is fairly unpolluted.






All Rivers are constantly changing. They go through cycles, like the water cycle with snow and rain. These cycles allow for high diversity of life. Complexity= sustainability.


                                                                      Site #2

                    Tributary from Eagle Pond
     The main difference of site 2 at first glance was its dominate plant species. Pine trees were king at this site. Instead of having leaves falling into the river there were pine needles. Which makes the waters pH go down meaning the water is more acidic.
      The Tempature was also affected due to the depth of the water. Site 2 was much sallower making the water warmer.
      Water at site 2 was flowing faster as well. Which translates to more oxygen in the water.

"What?!?"

Site 2's Past: Donald Hall our current poet loret use to talk about being able to watch the pond he lived on change colors throughout the seasons. That pond is Eagle Pond which is the pond that empties into the blackwater  river. It was later learned that the reason the pond was changing colors was because a landfill near its banks was leaking into the pond. Creating it to become so polluted that the pond changed color. Many people believed this lead to the many cases of cancer that were reported in the area. The pollution than went down to the river took with it all the life of the river with it. But looking at the river now you can see that it is a fairly healthy watershed. This proves that over time a body of water can recover and heal itself. If given a chance and a break from the pollutants that are hurting it, the river can absorb the pollutants. The plants take some of it and the water flows the rest of it from the area. The system was able to recover.

*pH= 5.8 (more acidic from the high level of pine needles in the water)

*Temperature = 59 degrees Fahrenheit (sallow water= high temp.)

*Phosphate = 4 (high from the floods)

*Human Impacts- Roads: runoff of salt and sand 

*Trabitaty- Low: good photosynthesis (many aquatic weeds)

* Similar ABCDE's to site #1

       

                                  Site #3 

           Pleasant Lake= Beginning of watershed                              

Phosphate- 4 (high but same as all the other sites)

pH- 6.7

Temperature- 65 degrees Fahrenheit (Much higher temp. than other sites)

        - The lake has a much higher thermal gain or thermal mass. It takes in a lot more sunlight than the river which makes the water hotter. 

Pleasant Lake is getting ready for its fall overturn. The stratified layers of heat flip. The hot layer of water on the top of the lake flips with the cold layer on the bottom. This allows the top layer to freeze as the bottom layer to stay liquified throughout the winter. 

Human Impacts: 

Abiotic: putting chemicals into the lake that flow to the ocean. Some plants absorb the pollutants but only a small amount. The rest flows to the oceans. 

Dams: People built the dam on pleasant for many reasons. The main reason is for transport of money. When the lake is created it brings people to it. Which means it brings in money for the people up keeping the lake. Their is also a social exchange that occurs when spending a day by the lake. 

            The Fun never stops when your studying the ecology of watersheds! Talon is enjoying his job with the net.

                  -Jen  Ellms