CU-Bloomsburg Professor Helps Lead Delaware River Watershed Study

Commonwealth University-Bloomsburg is a partner in a $360,000 project to study climate change impacts on the headwater streams of the upper Delaware River watershed.

The two-year project is a collaboration between CU’s Dr. Steven Rier and Tanya Dapkey of the Academy of Natural Science of Drexel University, both were awarded a grant of $360,000 from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Delaware Watershed Conservation Fund to study the effects of temperature and flow stability on the ecosystems of fifty headwater streams in an area ranging from the Poconos in Eastern Pennsylvania to the Catskills in New York. 

Supported by the grant, students guided by Rier and Dapkey will monitor temperature fluctuations, the frequency of floods, the diversity of organisms from microbes to fish, and the overall capacity of these ecosystems to store and assimilate energy from fallen leaf litter. The goal is to understand how climate change, specifically temperature fluctuations and increased floods, affects not only the small tributaries but the larger river as whole. 

Headwater streams play a crucial role in the health of river ecosystems, providing valuable ecological services and supporting biodiversity. Gathering data from the smallest of ecosystems, Rier notes that leaf litter from adjacent forest can play a vital role in the overall health of a stream by fueling the food chain that ultimately leads to healthy fish and amphibian populations. 

After assessing how headwater streams react to temperature and flow fluctuations, the team will create a preemptive model that can estimate how cumulative upstream effects alter the downstream ecosystem. The project will offer valuable learning experiences for multiple CU-Bloomsburg students within the field of biology. 

The study aims to demonstrate that working to maintain the forested areas around streams is one of the most effective ways to protect watersheds from the adverse effects of climate change. The health of the headwaters is directly tied to the health of larger river systems, and by focusing conservation efforts on these smaller, upstream areas, it is possible to safeguard the larger watershed and create sustainable ecosystems in the face of climate change.