Primary Production in Sandy-Bottom Streams of the West Sandy Creek Watershed of Tennessee

Two streams in the West Sandy Creek watershed of Henry County, Tennessee were studied for primary production. Bailey Fork Creek is a relatively undisturbed stream, while Holly Fork Creek is a channelized stream. In these sandy-bottomed, chemically-similar streams, twenty line transects were used to estimate the volume of submerged wood and to establish plots for photoautotroph sampling. Wholestream gross primary production of unchannelized Bailey Fork Creek was approximately ten times greater than channelized Holly Fork Creek in August 1993 as estimated by diurnal changes in dissolved oxygen. Unchannelized Bailey Fork Creek contained approximately ten times more chlorophyll a than Holly Fork Creek due to the large biomass of periphyton attached to the large volume of submerged wood. Sand-associated periphyton and macrophytes were minor contributors to whole-stream primary production in Bailey Fork Creek (15%), but were the major contributors in Holly Fork Creek (96%). The results suggest that periphyton associated with wood is the most important contributor to primary production in the streams of the West Sandy Creek watershed and that wood removal from sandy-bottom streams may significantly reduce primary production.