Rapid Stream Assessment & Macroinvertebrate EPT Species Diversity Survey

While partnering with The Forest Exchange, we’re developing a baseline rapid stream assessment and macroinvertebrate diversity survey (EPT Index) on their new property in upstate New York to create a baseline for the changing health of their streams as they transform the property into a productive, forest farm.

The Forest Exchange is a small scale, wildcrafted permaculture nursery & forest garden growing bare root fruit/nut trees, shrubs, and perennials. They aim to mimic the landscape and ecologies found in wild spaces and to shift traditional views of agriculture from being based on annual crop extraction paradigms towards a sustainable, perennial agroforestry model. To do this, there is an essential focus on supporting the multifaceted web of organisms involved in maintaining soil health and CO2 carbon capture in their planting regimes.

The aim of this small stream assessment project is to develop a baseline context for the current health of the two streams on the property through an EPT Richness Index - estimating the water quality through the relative abundance of three major orders of stream insects that have low tolerances to common water pollutants. While a course assessment of water quality this system, paired with a qualitative/quantitative rapid stream assessment methodology, can provide an easy and accessible way to track the way the shifting use of the landscape may be effecting the stream health. This is a particular focus for The Forest Exchange at this crucial point of their property’s transformation from horse farm to food forest as this property sits within the headwaters of the Susquehanna River near Oneonta, NY.

Please visit the wonderful folks at The Forest Exchange at their website, on Instagram @theforestexchange or on Facebook! They bring inspiration, joy and wonder for the natural world and our human place within it to life in rare form and have enriched my life by their presence!