Several stations of the Little Sioux River were sampled from the Minnesota headwaters to the confluence of Milford Creek. The river changes from intermittent, ponded headwaters to continuously flowing stretches with a concomitant shift in the fauna of increasing downstream diversity of species. While the study of only one summer is reported here, it is hoped that further studies on this and other rivers would be encouraged so that biologists will have a biotic baseline to follow future changes and hopefully to be the basis for suggested water quality control of the future

Bovbjerg, Richard V.

Brackin, Michael L.

Pearsall, Nancy L.

English

University of Northern Iowa

Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of ScienceVolume 77 | Number Article 271970A Preliminary faunal study of the upper Little SiouxRiverRichard V. BovbjergUniversity of IowaNancy L. PearsallUniversity of IowaMichael L. BrackinIowa State UniversityCopyright © Copyright 1970 by the Iowa Academy of Science, Inc.Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/piasThis Research is brought to you for free and open access by UNI ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Proceedings of the Iowa Academyof Science by an authorized editor of UNI ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact scholarworks@uni.edu.Recommended CitationBovbjerg, Richard V.; Pearsall, Nancy L.; and Brackin, Michael L. (1970) "A Preliminary faunal study of the upper Little Sioux River,"Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science: Vol. 77: No. 1 , Article 27.Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol77/iss1/27A Preliminary faunal study of the upper Little Sioux River RICHARD V. BovBJERG1, NANCY L. PEARSALL 1 and MICHAEL L. BRACKIN 2 Abstract. Several stations of the Little Sioux River were sampled from the Minnesota headwaters to the confluence of Milford Creek. The river changes from intermittent, ponded headwaters to continuously flowing stretches with a concomitant shift in the fauna of increasing downstream diversity of species. While the study of only one summer is reported here, it is hoped that further studies on this and other rivers would be encouraged so that biologists will have a biotic baseline to follow future changes and hopefully to he thP basis for suggested water quality control of the future. The upper Little Sioux River, from its headwaters in Jackson County, Minnesota to the confluence with Milford Creek, has no significant urban pollution; it is nevertheless a stream with a nor-mally heavy load of silt and it is subject to agricultural pollution. No formal studies have been made of this stretch of the river. The purposes of the present study are these: l. to present data for a bench mark; further studies may reveal changes in the fauna with changing environmental conditions (probably worsened but hopefully improved) ; 2. to act as a stimulus for more definitive studies of the biology, limnology, and geography of the basin; 3. to specifically compare the fauna of the headwaters with that down-stream, which do receive effluent starting with Milford. This study must be considered as preliminary-the result of a few weeks dur-ing one summer, 1969. None of the authors is a taxonomic expert. This report is not one of specific ecological significance nor is it a review of the extensive literature on stream ecology. THE BASIN OF THE UPPER LITTLE Sroux RIVER The river has its origin in Rost and Hunter townships of Jack-son County, Minnesota, about 16 km north of the Iowa Border. It enters Iowa in Dickinson County and flows southerly. The "Iowa Lakes" region lies to the cast of the river in this area. The valley is of glacial origin; the Cary ice sheet of the Wis-consin deposited a Bemis moraine to the south and then an Alta-mont moraine to the west. The Little Sioux River flows south along the western border of the Altamont, through the Altamont and then through the Bemis just west of Milford (Salisbury and Knox, 1969). 1 Dept. of Zoology, Univ. of Iowa. 'Dept. of Zoology, Iowa State Univ. 177 1Bovbjerg et al.: A Preliminary faunal study of the upper Little Sioux RiverPublished by UNI ScholarWorks, 1970178 IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE [Vol. 77 The present valley has, for these reasons of glacial history, three zones in the regions studied. 1. Upper reaches: normally intermittent above the Iowa bor-der ; wide valley, low and marshy; Altamont moraine to the east; low gradient, meandering brook, 2-3 m wide ; bottom is silty gravel with few riffles; station I on east fork. 2. Second zone: normally continuously flowing except in extreme drought; 6-10 m wide; may become a trickle; val-ley continues to be wide, low, and marshy; Altamont moraine still to east; bottom gravel, with boulder- cobble riffles more numerous. Station II. Figure 1. The upper Little Sioux River with sta tions designated by roman numerals. 2Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, Vol. 77 [1970], No. 1, Art. 27https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol77/iss1/27• 1970] LITTLE SIOUX FAUNA 179 3. Third zone: west fork joins and the river cuts into and parallels the edge of the Altamont morain; banks steepen; current more rapid (by two or three times), 10-20 m wide; bottom alternating with gravel in pools and boulder-cobble riffles; river meanders in larger loops; station III. The river then flows tortuously between high, knobby Bemis moraine with a narrowed valley; water deepens and con-tinues to flow rapidly; bottom continues to be gravel with numerous riffles; Finally, the river flows out into a wider flood plain at the confluence with Milford Creek, west of Milford; Station IV. State V is 200 M below confluence. The potential pollution from Milford is high. A sewage treat-ment plant serves a very large summer resort population. In addi-tion, gravel washings from commercial pits increase the silt load of Milford Creek by a factor of 50 (Ohl, 1963). During the sum-mer of 1969, the water of the creek entering the river was a dis-crete orange band. Chemically, the water entering the river is no higher in nitrate than water above the sewage plant. The values cited by Ohl (1963) are 0.6 ppm, up to 3.7, and down to 0.5 at the confluence. Phosphates do not drop in this manner and do raise the levels in the river from time to time (Krohn, 1970). In the entire stretch of the upper Little Sioux River, there is no appreciable difference in water chemistry, at least during the summer of 1969 with an unusual high rate of flow (Krohn, 1970). Ordinarily, the upper zone in Minnesota becomes stagnant in isolated pools. At such time the chemical picture is very different, with complete oxygen depletion each night. There is increase in turbidity downstream; from station I to III it increased from 55 to 130 ppm, and jumped to 190 ppm below Milford Creek at sta-tion V. PROCEDURE The work was done from the Iowa Lakeside Laboratory during July-August of 1969. Each of the stations was visited repeatedly. Collections were made by hand, wire screen seines, minnow seines, and dip nets. Bottom samples were washed through wire screens and hand sorted. All parts of the station were sampled and the col-lections were terminated when no new species were found. The fish were collected after poisoning with 5% Rotenone insecticide. Two fine-mesh seines were stretched across the river downstream to in-sure as nearly a complete collection as possible. Identification of the invertebrates was done with keys in Pennak ( 1953) and in Ward and Whipple ( 1959) . The fish were keyed in Harlan and Speaker ( 1956), with assistance from the fisheries group at Iowa State University. Only macroscopic animals were collected; this excludes the protozoans, rotifers, copepods, cladoc-3Bovbjerg et al.: A Preliminary faunal study of the upper Little Sioux RiverPublished by UNI ScholarWorks, 1970180 IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE [Vol. 77 erans, ostracods, nematodes, and mites; these were seen of course, particularly in the slow headwaters. THE FAUNA The list of species by station in Table 1 is certainly incomplete; yet we did feel we had adequately sampled each station. Some trends are apparent. Table I. Fauna of the upper Little Sioux River by stations indicated in text. (Note: some large animals were associated with the river but not collected or recorded--beaver, muskrat, snapping turtles, frogs and toads.) SPONGES Spongilidae BRYOZOANS Plumatella repens Plumatella repens var. appressa FLATWORMS Planariidae Dugesia tigrina ANNELIDS Erpobdellidae Erpobdella punctata Dina fervida Glossiphoniidae H elobdella stagnalis Placobdella rugosa Placobdella montifera Enchytraeidae Enchytraeus sp. SNAILS Physidae Physa gyrina Planorbidae Helisoma campanulata Planorbula sp. Lymnaeidae Stagnicola reflexa Ancylidae F errissia sp. MUSSELS Unionidac Lasmigona complanata Andodonta grandis Amblema sp. Quadrula quadrula Acinonaias sp. Sphaeriidae Sphaerium sp. CRUSTACEANS Talitridae Hyalella azteca Astacidae x x x x x x x x x II x x x x x x x x x x x x III x x x x x x x x x x x IV x x x x x x x x x x x v x x x x x x x x x x x x x • 4Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, Vol. 77 [1970], No. 1, Art. 27https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol77/iss1/271970] LITTLE SIOUX FAUNA 181 Table 1, Cont. II III IV v Orconectes immunis x x Orconectes virilis x x x x INSECTS DI PT ERA Tendipedidae Tanytarsus sp.? x x Pseudochironomus sp.? x x x Chironomus sp.? x Procladius sp.? x Polypedilum sp.? x x x Cryptochironomus sp.? x x x x x Coelotanypus sp.? x x Pentaneura sp.? x Simuliidae Simulium vittatum x x x x x EPIIEMEROPTERA Heptageniidae Stenonema sp. x x x x x Ephemeridae Ephoron sp. x x x Baetidae Caenis sp. x x Callibaetis sp. x Baetis sp. x x x Trycorythodes sp. x Isonychia sp. x .. Ameletus sp. x x TRICHOPTERA Hydropsychidae Hydropsyche sp. x x x x x ODON A TA Aeschnidae Aeschna sp. x x x Coenagrionidae Ischnura sp. x x x CO LEO PT ERA Gyrinidae Dineutes sp. x x x Dytiscidae Laccophilus sp. x Suphisellus sp. x Hydrophilidae Tropisternus sp. x x Helophorus sp. x Haliplidae Peltodytes sp. x Elmidae Ancyronyx sp. x Dryopidae Pelonomus sp. x HEMIPTERA Gerridae Gerris sp. x x x x Notonectidae Notonecta sp. x Corixidae Palmacorixa sp. x x x x x 5Bovbjerg et al.: A Preliminary faunal study of the upper Little Sioux RiverPublished by UNI ScholarWorks, 1970182 IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE Table 1, Cont. FISHES Esocidae Esox lucius Ictaluridae I ctalurus me las I ctalurus nebulosus N oturus flavus Cyprinidae Cyprinus carpio Chrosomus erythrogaster N otemigonus crysoleucus Hybognathus hankinsoni Semotilus atromaculatus Dionda nubila Pimephales notatus Pimephales promelas Notropus cornutus Notropus delicosus Notropus roseus Notropus volucellus Notropus lutrensis Percidae Perea flavescens Etheostoma nigrum Etheostoma exile Stiwstedion z•itreum Gasterosteidae Eucalia inconstans Catastomidae Catastomus commersoni Carpiodes sp. C en trarchi dae Lepomis cyanellus Lepomis humilis Lepomis salmoides s. Lepomis macrochirus Pomoxis annularis Pomoxis nigromaculatus Sciaenidae Aplodinotus grunniens Species Total x x x x x 31 II x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x 50 III x x x x x x x x x x x x x x 35 x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x L Vol. 77 v x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x 52 The outstanding fauna) shift is at the point where the stream is normally summer stagnant above and continuously flowing be-low. This upper fauna has a strong pond flavor, and in fact during most summers the stream becomes a series of ponds: the stream here flows slowly m a wide, marshy valley and 1s connected to numerous ponds. We found pond mollusks, crustaceans, and insects. Ten invertebrate species were found here and not below. The characteristic stream fauna 1s represented only by those widely tolerant fonm able to extend into this stretch during periods of flow, eg. northern pike, black bullhead, carp, tht> amphipod Hyalella azteca, and snail Physa gyrina. At station II (permanently flowing) the number of fish spt>cit>s 6Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, Vol. 77 [1970], No. 1, Art. 27https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol77/iss1/271970] LITTLE SIOUX FAUNA 183 jumps from 5 to 23. Mussels appear; and the stream crayfish Orconectes virilis replaces Orconectes immunis ( Bovbjerg, 1970). Ancylid snails appear here and the usual stream insects greatly increase in density. From station II downstream, there are no sharp fauna! differ-ences. At least during the summer of 1969, there were no con-sistent chemical differences either (Krohn, 1970). At the time of the study, station IV above the confluence with Milford Creek and station V below, did not have a real difference in fauna. At this time of high flow, the potential for serious pollu-tion was not realized. In general, there was no obvious indication of pollution in the entire str<>tch of the river which was studied. There were no tubificid wonns, for instance. Silt load may have been a factor in excluding stoneflies which are present in one small tributary. On the contrary, ancylid snails, caddis flies, black flies, and several mayflies are present in abundance, and the fish fauna appears to be relatively diverse and not one associated with heavy pollution. Unreported observations from other years with low water in-dicate a \Try different array. Stream forms are exterminated in the ponded headwaters. When these regions resume flow, these same species mo\'e back. This could be readily done by insects whose larva<> requirP mo\'ing water but whose adults can fly. Rapid swimmers, like the fish, could also quickly disperse upstream; local residents cited conspicuous upstream movements of carp and north-ern pike during the spring floods of 1969 which followed two dry \'ears. CONCLUSIONS This report is preliminary. The summer was one of high water and as a result of \'Olume and rapid flow the river was chemically dilute and tended to be rather uniform. The normally ponded upper stretches were flowing and aerated. Even so, the upper sta-tion could be characterized as having a pond fauna with stream Pl<>ments introduced, those tolerant species from downstream. In the JCegions of normally continuous flow, the fauna was rela-tiYely consistent but very different from the upper station. This was most marked in the fish fauna. No distinct impact was seen from the potential pollution from :Milford creek. Again, in this year, the flow in the creek was very high and the only really obvious polluton was the heavy silt load from commercial gravel washing. The study was intended as a baseline for future work. The next period of low water should make for a significant comparison. Hopefully, students of specific groups would do a more complete work. Equally important are the groups omitted from this report, 7Bovbjerg et al.: A Preliminary faunal study of the upper Little Sioux RiverPublished by UNI ScholarWorks, 1970184 IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE LVol. 77 not only the animals but the algae and bacteria. To be of ecological importance, the fauna should be analyzed quantitatively; numbers reveal effects not seen in species lists. If an entire region of a river basin were somehow managed, thus preventing any agricultural pollution, an answer might be obtained to an important question. Can a silted stream subjected to such pollution recover and support the biota it undoubtedly once had? References Cited BovB J ERG, R. V., 1970. Ecology 51 : 225-236. HARLAN, J. R. & E. B. SPEAKER, 1956. Iowa Fish and Fishing. State Con-servation Commission Pub!. KROH:-.:, M. H., 1970. Proc. Ia. Acad. Sci 77: (in press). OHL, L. E., 1963. Fate of plankton in moving water. MS Thesis, U nivers-ity of Iowa. PE>::-.:AK, R. W., 1953. Fresh-water Invertebrates of the United States. Ronald Press, New York. SALISBURY, N. E. & J. C. KNox, 1969. Glacial Landforms of the Big Kettle Locality, Dickinson County, Iowa. Ia. State Advisory Board for Preserves, Development Series Report 6. WARD, H. B. & G. C. WHIPPLE (W. T. EDMONDSON, En.). 1959. Fresh-water Biology. John Wiley and Sons, New York. .. 8Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, Vol. 77 [1970], No. 1, Art. 27https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol77/iss1/27

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A Preliminary faunal study of the upper Little Sioux River

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