River Health in the New South Wales Lower North Coast, Hunter and Central Coast Catchments
A report of AusRivAS assessments 1994 - 1999
Grant Hose and Eren Turak
Environment Protection Agency, 2004
ISBN 0 642 55099 9 ISSN 1447-1280
Karu120 - Sugar Creek at Reedy Creek Road
Site Condition Summary
Sugar Creek is a coastal stream with its catchment wholly within the Wallingat State Forest. The riparian vegetation was in good condition and the site was surrounded by native forest. The stream was heavily shaded and flow was slow.
The instream habitat was in good condition, with high levels of organic input and overhanging vegetation. Water quality was good on both sampling occasions, although high levels of nitrogen (TKN) were recorded. This is quite typical of these stream types and may be due to the breakdown of large amount of organic matter that enters the stream.
The macroinvertebrate fauna reflect the relatively undisturbed condition of this site. O/E-Taxa values for all edge models were greater than 0.91, indicating good stream health. Taxa predicted but absent in one season were often collected in the alternate season. The exception was Atyidae (shrimp) which was predicted but not collected in either season.
Location Map
| Map Name | Wooton 9333-1-N |
| Map Zone | 56 |
| Map Scale | 1:25000 |
| Easting | 446300 |
| Northing | 6425700 |
| Distance from source (m) | 1705 |
| Elevation (m asl) | 10 |
| Average Annual Rainfall (mm) | 1300 |
Sampling Data and Assessments
Single Season Assessments
| Autumn '98 | Spring '98 | |
|---|---|---|
| 14-May-98 | 15-Oct-98 | |
| O/E Taxa | 1.02 | 0.96 |
| Band | A | A |
| O/E SIGNAL | 0.94 | 1.09 |
Riffle
Combined Season Assessments
| Seasons | AUT98SPR98 |
|---|---|
| Model | Eastern |
| O/E Taxa | 0.91 |
| Band | A |
| O/E SIGNAL | 0.98 |
Riffle
Taxa Collected
X= Taxa Predicted & Collected, O = Taxa Predicted & NOT Collected, + = Taxa Collected & NOT Predicted
| Autumn '98 | Spring '98 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phylum | Class/Order | Family | 14-May-98 | 15-Oct-98 |
| Annelida | Oligochaeta | + | ||
| Arachnida | Hydracarina | X | X | |
| Crustacea | Cladocera | Cladocera | + | |
| Crustacea | Decapoda | Atyidae | O | O |
| Crustacea | Ostracoda | Ostracoda | O | |
| Insecta | Coleoptera | Dytiscidae | X | X |
| Insecta | Coleoptera | Elmidae | + | |
| Insecta | Coleoptera | Hydraenidae | X | + |
| Insecta | Coleoptera | Hydrophilidae | X | X |
| Insecta | Coleoptera | Scirtidae | X | X |
| Insecta | Diptera | Ceratopogonidae | + | |
| Insecta | Diptera | Chironominae | X | X |
| Insecta | Diptera | Culicidae | + | O |
| Insecta | Diptera | Orthocladiinae | O | + |
| Insecta | Diptera | Simuliidae | + | + |
| Insecta | Diptera | Tanypodinae | X | X |
| Insecta | Diptera | Tipulidae | + | |
| Insecta | Ephemeroptera | Leptophlebiidae | O | X |
| Insecta | Hemiptera | Gerridae | X | O |
| Insecta | Hemiptera | Hydrometridae | X | X |
| Insecta | Hemiptera | Mesoveliidae | X | + |
| Insecta | Hemiptera | Veliidae | X | X |
| Insecta | Odonata | Megapodagrionidae | + | |
| Insecta | Odonata | Synlestidae | + | |
| Insecta | Trichoptera | Leptoceridae | X | X |
| Insecta | Trichoptera | Odontoceridae | + | + |
| Mollusca | Bivalvia | Corbiculidae | + | + |
| Platyhelminthes | Turbellaria | Dugesiidae | + | + |
Riffle
Water Quality Data
| Autumn '98 | Spring '98 | |
|---|---|---|
| Variable | 14-May-98 | 15-Oct-98 |
| Water Temperature (°C) | 13.6 | 13.2 |
| Conductivity (µS/Cm) | 236 | 322 |
| Alkalinity (mg CaCO3 /L) | 3.43 | 3.6 |
| pH | 10 | 10 |
| Dissolved Oxygen (mg/L) | 5.7 | 6.61 |
| Turbidity (NTU) | 8.4 | 35.5 |
| Low Total Phosphorus (µg/L) | 26 | 33 |
| Free Reactive Phosphorus (µg/L) | 2 | 4 |
| NOx Nitrogen (µg/L) | 9 | 13 |
| Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (mg/L) | 0.78 | 0.79 |
| Ammonia (µg/L) | 20 | 35 |
| Nitrate (µg/L) | 1 | 4 |
| Nitrite (µg/L) | 8 | 9 |
Key
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