Knee-deep in urban ecology

LIVE STREAMING

By Shawn Ryan

Professor Mark Schorr leads students along Mountain Creek.

“Oh, I missed it!” Jasmin Barton-Holt says, both annoyed and slightly dismayed.

Fish net in hand, she is exasperated after missing minnows zipping around Mountain Creek at the base of Signal Mountain.

Her irritation lasts less than a second, though, as she dips her net back into the water and successfully snags minnow after minnow as she walks slowly through the water.

Wading knee deep in the creek, she and four other students from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga aren’t fishing for food. They’re swishing their nets through the water to scoop up small fish—most about a finger long—living in the creek, tallying the number and different species they find. The health of the fish also is part of the job, but a small part.

The tasks are linked to research that Mark Schorr, a professor in the UTC Department of Biology, Geology and Environmental Science, has been conducting for the past two decades. Working with students and colleagues at UTC, he’s examining the ecology of urban streams and local watersheds.

For the last 12 years, the research has focused on measuring and determining the effectiveness of stream restoration projects in the urban environments in and around Chattanooga.

“Streams can heal themselves, but not if urbanization keeps affecting the surrounding area,” he says.

CATCH AND RELEASE

Pulled from nets, the fish are transferred into five-gallon buckets and 10-gallon coolers. The students reach their hands into the containers to pull out fish after fish—some so slick they squirt out of the students’ hands and flop back into the creek.

As the fish are examined, names pour out: BLG (bluegill). LSR (large-scale stone roller). REB (Red-eyed bass). NHS (northern hog sucker). Many more.

A senior in geology, Barton-Holt records the names and numbers of the species as the other students loudly identify each fish, toss it into the stream and go for more.

“Y’all, this is getting insane,” she says after a couple of minutes of rapidly jotting down the flood of information.

In a certain way, though, that insanity is what the students are seeking.

“This is exactly what I’d love to do as a job,” says Hunter Lamb, who recently graduated with a master’s in environmental science and is working as a research assistant on the project.

There are lessons to learn in the stream work, says Sierra Beatty, a senior in geology.

“I’m learning how to take better field notes and I’m learning to work with a team to achieve an end goal,” she says.

HEALTHY—OR NOT

In his decades-long work, Schorr has been wading through many local streams, documenting the effects of urbanization. It’s not very positive, he says.

New neighborhoods, apartment complexes, shopping centers and other developments are being built at a breakneck pace in the Chattanooga area, he explains. To make room, trees are being cut down; soil is being cleared of vegetation and, in many cases, asphalt is replacing them.

In return, stormwater rushes across the now-naked soil or paved parking lots and sweeps across the now-naked landscape. Instead of being slowed and absorbed by plant-covered ground, the water drags sediment and debris with it, then plunges into nearby streams.

“Sediment can reduce the amount of oxygen in the water and the fish actually suffocate,” Schorr says.

Chemical pollution also can filter into the water, sometimes causing physical damage to the fish and other animals who live in it.

KNEE-DEEP IN THE STREAM

On a warm day in May, while working with the students in Mountain Creek—located at the base of Signal Mountain about six miles from downtown Chattanooga—Schorr finds a fish with a white lesion on it. It’s not naturally occurring.

“We’re looking at each individual fish to see if there’s any sign of stress. External abnormalities. Ulcerated regions. Fin rot. Noticeable ectoparasites attached to them,” he says.

To see whether the stream is improving, staying the same or deteriorating, new data from water samples will be sent to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency for comparison.

“When I learned about the stream restoration that was being done, I was really excited because we had baseline data on all of the streams where restoration was done, so we could look at before and after,” Schorr says.

Previous studies of the Southeast Tennessee/North Georgia region suggest that urban development has degraded streams from low to moderate levels depending on how much and how quickly urbanization is taking place, Schorr says.

Data from a study that ran from 1998 until 2008 and examined 21 streams in the Chattanooga region revealed that most rated “poor” when it came to the effects of urbanization. The research taking place this year by Schorr and others will update the data from 2008.

When he’s done collecting data, Schorr’s information will be sent to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

STEP BY STEP

Along Mountain Creek, in sections about 300 to 400 feet each, Schorr and his students sample about one-third of a mile overall each day. The research takes place over several weeks with daily plunges into the creek for Schorr and students.

Nets are strung from one edge of the creek to the other. One upstream keeps fish out; one downstream keeps fish in.

Once nets are in place, Schorr hauls a device known as a fish shocker onto his back. A pole with a small circle of metal on the end is connected to the device and delivers a small zap of electricity that stuns the fish without killing them.

Students wear waders with rubber boots and gloves to protect them from getting shocked as well as keep them dry. The poles with nets are fiberglass and don’t transmit electricity. Still, no sense in tempting fate.

After the fish are counted, identified and released back into the creek, the nets are moved to the next section, and the process starts all over.

As Schorr wades slowly through the stream with the shocker, the students walk alongside and behind him, swooping into the water with their nets.

For the UTC students involved in the project this summer, it’s field work for a credited class in individual studies. It’s also pretty cool.

Jacob Hart, a senior in environmental science, says he’s a catch-and-release fisherman in his spare time, so wading through the stream is just a different way to the same destination, “I’ve got to say, it’s pretty fun.”

Beatty was more emphatic.

“This is a blast,” she says. “I’ve been having so much fun out in the field that I wish all classes were taught like this.”

* * * * * * *

Professor Mark Schorr said he hopes students who are sampling and assessing streams in urbanized watersheds will acquire:

• Technical skills and research-related experience collecting and recording field data for an ecological stream study

• Applied knowledge and hands-on experience sampling and assessing water quality, hydrology, structural habitat features and fish assemblages in streams

• Experience working and interacting positively/productively with others on a research team

• Technical skills and work experience that will benefit them professionally