Nov. 7, 2018: The Youth Freshwater Summit is a Tennessee River convention for teenagers--
and it’s absolutely fascinating. I was a little nervous about the summit, but as Dr. Anna George
and Hayley Wise introduced the event, my fears were completely assuaged.
During the 1st half of the day we toured the facility that won a LEED Gold award for its low impact
on the environment. Did you know that the plumbing is supplied by rainwater gathered
in a cistern outside of the building? Or that the entire landscape that the institute is on is
flourishing with specific native species of plants, forming a rain garden that properly irrigates
the land into a small wetland that now supports a beaver dam?
(GPS hopes to soon add a rain garden similar to it for a Tucker River Fellows Project). Later
in the day we got a chance to learn hands-on how TNACI (also the Cherokee name for the
Tennessee River) tested the river in different areas. Speaking of the river, did you know that the
Tennessee River is as diverse in fish species as the Amazon!?! And pollutants, such as
industrial pollutants from chemical plants and non-point source pollution from soil erosion
cause habitat degradation for many of the diverse wildlife in our river-- killing them and
therefore many other species in the process. There is this (pardon my Disney) “circle of life”
in which each species depends on another-- like the mussels relationship
with the tangerine darter in the Tennessee River. If the Tangerine darter didn’t have any
mayflies to eat, then the mussels wouldn’t have anything to disperse their larvae
(scientific name: Glochidia) around the river to maintain genetic diversity.
and it’s absolutely fascinating. I was a little nervous about the summit, but as Dr. Anna George
and Hayley Wise introduced the event, my fears were completely assuaged.
During the 1st half of the day we toured the facility that won a LEED Gold award for its low impact
on the environment. Did you know that the plumbing is supplied by rainwater gathered
in a cistern outside of the building? Or that the entire landscape that the institute is on is
flourishing with specific native species of plants, forming a rain garden that properly irrigates
the land into a small wetland that now supports a beaver dam?
(GPS hopes to soon add a rain garden similar to it for a Tucker River Fellows Project). Later
in the day we got a chance to learn hands-on how TNACI (also the Cherokee name for the
Tennessee River) tested the river in different areas. Speaking of the river, did you know that the
Tennessee River is as diverse in fish species as the Amazon!?! And pollutants, such as
industrial pollutants from chemical plants and non-point source pollution from soil erosion
cause habitat degradation for many of the diverse wildlife in our river-- killing them and
therefore many other species in the process. There is this (pardon my Disney) “circle of life”
in which each species depends on another-- like the mussels relationship
with the tangerine darter in the Tennessee River. If the Tangerine darter didn’t have any
mayflies to eat, then the mussels wouldn’t have anything to disperse their larvae
(scientific name: Glochidia) around the river to maintain genetic diversity.
No comments:
Post a Comment