Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration

In 2018, the hardscape construction of NCOS (North Campus Open Space), a restored, closed estuary, wetland on the Northern border of COPR (Coal Oil Point Reserve), was completed; thus, approximately doubling its overall size and offering the rather unique opportunity of being able to compare the well-established COPR wetland with the newly constructed, adjoining, NCOS wetland. Basic water quality and aquatic invertebrate monitoring data collection of both sites were undertaken to help better understand the dynamics of how a newly constructed wetland develops into an established wetland and to establish a baseline for future monitoring. Aquatic invertebrate sampling protocols were evaluated indicating that sampling in algae gives more than an order-of-magnitude greater abundance and diversity than sampling in open water and that the Filtered Beaker method gives more precise species density information than the Sweep-Net method; when sampling at shallower depths where the Sweep-Net is not fully submerged. Additionally, there are significant issues with how benthic samples are traditionally collected and analyzed. Four taxa are the more significant contributors to the total taxa observed –Copepods, Ostracods, Cladocera, and Corixidae. Additionally, we found Oligochaete, Chironomids, Nematodes, and Ephydridae in significant abundance. The type and number of invertebrates collected are evaluated in terms of site, salinity, and location in the sampling column (planktonic or benthic).