The Kellogg Creek Student Macroinvertebrate Monitoring Program’s Spring 2024 survey season was a huge success, thanks to all the hard work put in by students, teachers, and volunteers to collect this valuable data! This springs data, and data collected over the next 3 years, will help to establish our baseline macroinvertebrate communities in the Kellogg Impoundment, in front of the dam, and upstream along Kellogg Creek. Future macroinvertebrate data collected after Kellogg Dam is removed and the creek is restored will be compared to the data collected now to see how the macroinvertebrate community has changed, and what that can tell us about how water quality has changed in Kellogg Creek!
A big THANK YOU goes out to:
- Erika Jensen and the PACE high school environmental science students
- Nicole Matthews, Donny Law and the Milwaukie High School biology students
- Jeff Young and the Rowe Middle School 6th graders
- Dylan Richmond, Violet Malmros and the Rowe Middle School 8th graders
- Entomologist Zee Searles Mazzacano, pHD, CASM Environmental
- Brian Weir and Zoe Edelman, student assistants from Portland State University
- Volunteers Sima Seumalo and Laura Rost
- Dr. Patrick Edwards, Portland State University
Survey Methods and Analysis
Surveys were conducted at 5 sites: at the confluence of Kellogg Creek and Willamette River, at the confluence of Johnson Creek and the Willamette River, in the Kellogg Impoundment from Dogwood Park and the Milwaukie Presbyterian Church Sanctuary, and upstream of the impoundment behind Rowe Middle School.
From top to bottom, left to right: The confluence of Kellogg Creek and the Willamette River; Kellogg Impoundment from the Milwaukie Presbyterian Church Sanctuary; the confluence of Johnson Creek and the Willamette River; the Kellogg Impoundment from Dogwood Park.
Students collected and identified macroinvertebrates to family level in the field, following non-lethal survey methods developed by Dr. Patrick Edwards (Portland State University). Student macroinvertebrate identification was verified in the field by entomologist Zee Searles Mazzacano (CASM Environmental), Peyton Priestman (NCWC), and Student Assistants Brian Weir and Zoe Edelman (Portland State University). Data collected by students was analyzed using a Community Science Index of Biotic Integrity, developed by Dr. Edwards to determine stream health based on macroinvertebrate communities found in the stream. You can read Dr. Edwards full paper describing these methods below:
The Community Science IBI uses 10 metrics to determine the health of a stream based on the macroinvertebrate community found there, for example:
- Taxa Richness: Taxa richness is the number of different macroinvertebrate families detected. This can be a function of diversity, so in general, the greater the taxa richness, the better the health of the stream!
- Mayfly, Stonefly, and Caddisfly Richness: These three metrics have to do with specific orders of macroinvertebrates, the mayflies, stoneflies and caddisflies, that generally tend to be more sensitive to pollution and habitat disturbance. When a stream has lots of families within these orders, it can be a sign of good water quality and stream health!
- Intolerant Richness: This is the number of families found in a creek that are considered sensitive (or intolerant) to pollution and disturbance, including most mayflies, stoneflies and caddisflies.
- % Dominant: Percent dominant calculates the percentage of the top 3 most abundant taxa. This is another method for understanding diversity in a system- if the top 3 taxa found make up a huge percentage of the total, it may be a sign of stream habitat degradation.
Survey Results
Survey Effort
The table below summarizes the number of surveys at each each site, the total number of samples collected at the site, the average number of macroinvertebrates counted during a survey, and the average number of macroinvertebrates counted per number of samples collected. Something that we keep in mind when looking at this seasons data is the amount of “effort” put into each site – how many surveys were at the site and the number of samples that were collected. In the spring we had a lot of surveys at Kellogg Creek behind Rowe Middle School, and much less in the impoundment, and creek confluences with the Willamette. When effort is skewed across survey sites, it can make it more difficult to draw conclusions about the macroinvertebrate community. With lower sampling effort you may not collect enough samples to fully represent the diversity of a site, and miss some of the more rare taxa that could be present. In future seasons, we will work with teachers to more evenly distribute that effort but this data still provides us with a great starting off point for understanding the macroinvertebrate communities and water quality at these sites.
| Survey Sites | Number of Surveys | Number of Samples Collected | Mean Macroinvertebrate Counts | Mean Abundance/Samples Collected |
| Kellogg Creek (Willamette Confluence) | 1 | 3 | 9 | 3 |
| Kellogg Impoundment (Dogwood Park) | 1 | 15 | 37 | 3.1 |
| Kellogg Impoundment (MPC Sanctuary) | 3 | 45 | 36.6 | 2.55 |
| Kellogg Creek (Rowe) | 10 | 165 | 77.2 | 5.5 |
| Johnson Creek (Willamette Confluence) | 1 | 9 | 46 | 5.1 |
Survey Findings
The table below summarizes interesting findings from this our survey season, including total taxa abundance at each site and which taxa was most abundant. As well as % mayflies, stoneflies and caddisflies found at each site ( %EPT ) and % Midges. A high % EPT may indicate a healthier stream, whereas over 30 % Midge generally indicates a more degraded habitat.
| Survey Site | Taxa Richness | Most Abundant Taxa | % EPT | % Midges |
| Kellogg Creek (Willamette Confluence) | 6 | Midge, Small Minnow Mayfly, Leech | 22% | 22% |
| Kellogg Impoundment (Dogwood Park) | 9 | Midge | 0% | 46% |
| Kellogg Impoundment (MPC Sanctuary) | 12 | Midge | <1% | 11% |
| Kellogg Creek (Rowe) | 18 | Scud | 20% | 2% |
| Johnson Creek (Willamette Confluence) | 7 | Small Minnow Mayfly | 73% | 0% |
We had some macroinvertebrates that were common across several sites, including midges, scuds, and small minnow mayflies. Below are brief descriptions of these families and what sites we found them at!
Midges
We found two types of midges on our surveys, non-biting midges and bloodworms. Midges are common in most freshwater habitats, and are considered tolerant to habitat disturbance and poor water quality. We found midges at every single one of our survey sites!
Scuds
Scuds are common in freshwater habitats and are considered tolerant to habitat disturbance and poor water quality. We found scuds at every single survey site this spring, but they were by far the most abundant at our upstream site behind Rowe Middle School.
Small Minnow Mayfly
While mayflies are generally more sensitive to pollution and disturbance, the small minnow mayfly is an exception! Small minnow mayflies are considered tolerant to habitat degradation and pollution, and so may be the only mayfly present in degraded streams. We found small minnow mayflies at the Johnson Creek and Kellogg Creek Confluences with the Willamette River, and upstream in Kellogg Creek behind Rowe Middle School. We found 1 small minnow mayfly during a survey of the Kellogg Impoundment in the Milwaukie Presbyterian Church Sanctuary.
Data Analysis
Below are the results of the Community Science Index of Biotic Integrity. On this index higher scores are associated with healthier streams, so the sites that are represented in red are considered impaired, while the green and yellow sites are healthy and moderately impaired respectively.
What this data has shown us so far, is that sites near the Kellogg Dam (in the impoundment and at the Willamette confluence) are mostly impaired, meaning they have poor water quality and degraded habitat. This aligns with what we know about the impacts of Kellogg Dam on these sites- the water is fairly stagnant and shallow, there’s high amounts of sediment that has accumulated, and warmer temperatures compared to upstream sites. Upstream of the impoundment, behind Rowe Middle School, macroinvertebrate communities were representative of an unimpaired, or relatively healthy, stream. Johnson Creek at the confluence of the Willamette River was considered moderately impaired. These two sites act as control sites for our monitoring- since they are not directly impacted by the Kellogg Dam, we can get a good idea of what macroinvertebrate communities are present in urban streams in our watersheds, and compare that to what we find in the parts of Kellogg Creek impacted by the dam. With more surveys and increased sampling at our other sites, it will be interesting what the data shows us this fall!
ncwatersheds.org 