Threats to the Clinch and Powell Rivers

The Upper Tennessee river basin has be called one of the last great places by The Nature Conservancy and If you have ever been there or studied its water’s then you will know why. The Upper Clinch and Powell rivers in Virginia are the only undammed sections of river within the Tennessee River basin. This has allowed around 48 imperiled species of freshwater muscles, fish, and plants to persist as well as provide critical habitat for many other species. While these rivers have managed to go undammed, they are heavily subjected to other threats like untreated sewage, either pumped straight into creeks and tributaries or from failing septic systems, agricultural runoff, sedimentation from mining, logging, and agricultural activities, and other forms of commercial runoff. The Clinch river, and many other rivers and streams in the area, are afflicted by these problems because of the geography of the are which in turn influences the land use. The Clinch river mainly flows through the Valley and Ridge Physiographic Province with the western edge in the Appalachian Plateaus Physiographic Province. The Valley and Ridge area is characterized by forested ridgelines and rolling hills and flat, fertile valleys which are mostly used for pastureland and hay production. The Plateaus region is too rugged for farming but instead hosts many of the coal mines, mountain top removal and underground mines, and various gas well sites with all the necessary infrastructure to maintain such sites. Logging operations happen throughout both provinces. These non-point source stressors have caused a decline in the populations of many endangered or imperiled freshwater muscle species. 

Seek by iNaturalist App Review

Seek by iNaturalist is a great app for beginner naturalists, outdoor enthusiasts, and casual park goers alike. The app is easy to use on the Android system and doesn't necessarily require a working camera on the phone. The app can identify many species of plants, amphibians, fungi, fish, reptiles, arachnids, birds, insects, mollusks, and mammals. The app works by scanning the image on your phone's screen and begins by narrowing down from the organism's Kingdom down to the species if the program can make a positive identification.  This is represented by 7 dots at the top of the screen, each dot is a category of classification and each is filled as the program narrows down the possibilities. You can also just use an old photo that you've uploaded or saved on your phone and the app works in much the same way but you don't have the opportunity to retake or refocus the photo.

If the app can't reach a positive identification then it will offer the genus or family of the organism and will prompt you to refocus or retake the picture. Regardless of whether the app can positively identify the organism, it will offer a nice summary of the genus or family of the organism. I think much of the information gathered on the app is taken from Wikipedia so I would like to see a more reliable source of information. However, the information provided is generally accurate and there is even a species range map that includes positive identifications made by app users.

I work outside and during the course of the day I made several identifications of trees, down to the  family, but was unable to make a species level due to a constant breeze of about 6 mph. This was apparently enough to confuse the app but this may have also been user error since this was my first day with the app. I had better luck with some older photos that I had taken during hikes and from other work days.  Using this app I was able to ID the American Trumpet Vine, Canada Lilly, the Eastern Cicada-Killer Wasp, a Broad-winged Hawk, Great Rhododendron, Dekay's Brownsnake, Ringless Honey Mushroom, and the Eastern Red Cedar.

The app also has a reward system of sorts as it awards badges and achievements as you identify more and different types of species. There are also challenges that encourage the user to identify specific species or certain types of organisms in a certain amount of time.

Here is a cool slide show that hits the major points in ecology with a focus on biodiversity.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1p0eHjpLzySnYUqdXnAIyGnyyU_if1J0-/view?usp=sharing

This week I worked on outlining the Upper Tennessee River Watershed, some of the challenges that it faces and some important natural features.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Xkz3pOsCWBXW_sy4NP0HrNk3LRPY4Nan&usp=sharing

Why I chose to blog about Southwest Virginia

I chose to study the biodiversity of Southwest Virginia because despite the fact that I grew up there, I still learn new things about the towns, people, and the diverse biotic community that calls it home. I have always heard about our incredible freshwater muscle population in the Clinch and Powell rivers but most people would only know enough to interest visitors to the towns or they just use that fact to try and draw in more outdoor recreation. I guess you could say that I took the amazing opportunity to study this area for granted. I thought that it wasn't special because I had always grown up in it. However, in 2017 I hiked the entire Appalachian Trail and along the way I came to realize that Southwest Virginia is one of the most special places that I had ever been not only along the trail but also in my travels abroad. The history of the people who lived there is as varied and treasured as the life within it. The challenges brought on by industry and modern agriculture are looming. The opportunity to learn about what biodiversity really means is omnipresent.

Biodiversity as I define it has to do with the variations found in all aspects of life. In order for a place to have a diverse biotic community it must contain a vast multitude of species, interactions among those species, and those species and interactions must occur in many different types of ecosystems. All of those aspects of biodiversity are present in Southwest Virginia. We have clean streams and creeks which feed into rivers with gravely bottoms and are flanked by forest on either side. We have karst topography which lends itself to cave dwelling creatures and those that prefer cracks in steep rock walls. We even have rocky ridges and high elevation balds sprinkled in red spruce and Fraser Fir. All of this allows this region to hold a staggering amount of biodiversity in terms of natural landscapes. But this region also possesses an special population of humans with their own endemic culture and rich history. This history can cause some to write off those who live here as either  uneducated or filthy coal miners or both. However, if we are to find a way to protect the area's natural community then we must also find ways to strengthen and protect the human communities as well.