“LEAF PACK”

The “Leaf Pack” Stream Ecology project is designed for training and working with teachers and high school and college students to illustrate the importance of the conservation of water quality, and creating a consciousness about the necessity to preserve the tropical rain forest. It consists of practical hands-on learning and primarily investigational field work with the development of complex and detailed scientific experiments.

STEP 1:

“Leaf Pack” starts with going to a local stream and filling a mesh bag with leaves.

STEP 2:

The bag is then tied, weighted, and placed on the bottom of a stream for up to one month. During that time bottom dwelling organisms colonize the bag.

STEP 3:

The bag is then collected and all of the organisms are identified and counted.

If a stream has a high prevalence of mayflies, stoneflies and caddisflies, we know that the stream has high water quality, as these organisms are very sensitive to low oxygen levels, high sediment levels and other pollutants. If these organisms are rare or absent, it is an indicator that the stream is suffering from pollution. Through an index, “leaf pack” allows streams to be rated for their water quality and gives valuable information on how land use practices are impacting local water quality.

Teachers and students learn about the water cycle, organisms living in streams, with emphasis on the fauna of micro-invertebrates and their use as quality biomarkers. They also learn a practical way to develop the scientific method, data collection, identifying organisms, and index application, as well as performing physiochemical tests to evaluate health and quality of the water.

The Leaf Pack program has been a tremendous success and has operated for 11 uninterrupted years from 2009-2019. During this time, 30 rivers and streams have been studied in the Madre de Dios region of Peru, many of which ACEER has been monitoring for 5-10 years.

We have deployed more than 916 “packages of leaves” which has yielded many educational opportunities and scientific achievements.

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This is an original project through ACEER with input from the Leaf Pack Network and Stroud Water Research Center, along with collaboration with numerous national and international research institutions.