Join our August, Bugs in the Mud Nature Quest!

Date: Thursday, August 22, 2024

Time: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM (approx.)

Location: Upjohn Nature Reserve, Bracebridge

The District Municipality of Muskoka’s “Bugs in the Mud” or Benthic Monitoring Program is in its 20^th year! For the past two summers, it has been run by Maggie Dechert, a summer student pursuing her diploma as an Ecosystem Management Technician at Sir Sandford Fleming College. Maggie is a long-time resident of Muskoka and is having a lot of fun discovering many new lakes in the area and meeting the dedicated volunteers who have kept the benthic program running over the years. She is honoured to be a guide for the August Nature Quest and is looking forward to meeting more members of the Muskoka Conservancy.

The Benthic Monitoring Program was created as an accessible way for citizens to monitor potential changes over time in their lake quality. The idea is to collect baseline data over a number of years to gain a better understanding of the normal range and diversity of species in a given lake. This is done by counting the number and type of species present in a collected sample. A technician such as Maggie uses a “D-net” (worth a Google) and a pair of waders to collect the benthic macroinvertebrates that live at the bottom of the lake. This collection method is known as the “Travelling-Kick-and-Sweep”. Those who participate in the August Nature Quest will get the opportunity to hear about how we select sites for the benthic program and witness a collection that will occur on the Beaver Pond Trail at Upjohn Nature Reserve. Afterwards, we will look at the benthic macroinvertebrates as a group, and Maggie can help to identify the bugs by describing some of their unique features.

Maggie will also go into further detail about why this data is important to collect and how it can be interpreted to support water quality data. You do not need to know how to identify these bugs – nor will you be getting wet (unless it rains!). Maggie has plenty of supplies to help investigate the samples, including laminated keys for proper field identification. This is a unique opportunity to investigate organisms that we do not get to see every day – at least in their larval stage. Some of these organisms include Dragonflies, Damselflies, Mayflies and Caddisflies, which are born in the water before metamorphosis into their adult stage.

Some of these organisms include Dragonflies, Damselflies, Mayflies and Caddisflies, which are born in the water before metamorphosis into their adult stage. Maggie suggests wearing long pants and sleeves and being prepared for mosquitos and black flies. Rubber boots are not required but may be a better choice depending on the weather. A camp chair may be useful during the counting portion of the Nature Quest.

Email Camryn at info@muskokaconservancy.org to register!