West Meade Ecology

The Jocelyn Hollow waterfall is an amazing treasure. Clean water bursts out of the hillside in a wide spring that cascades down shale, providing a cool, moist, shady habitat for many plants and animals. A collection of insects here by Steve Hamilton of Austin Peay State University revealed that the aquatic faunal community is still in very good shape. Behind the waterfall lies dozens of acres of mature forest, including white-oak/chestnut-oak uplands, and sweetgum/sycamore lowlands. Only such a clean headwater buffered from pollution by ample mature forest could support sensitive species like red salamanders (Pseudotriton ruber), which are very common here.

Species collected by Steve Hamilton:
Hydrophilidae: Diplectrona prob. modesta
Hydrophilidae: Diplectrona metaqui
Hydroptilidae: prob. Ochrotrichia
Lepidostomatidae: Lepidostoma sp.
Odontoceridae: Psilotreta sp.
Philopotamidae: Dolophilodes prob. distinctus

The creek then flows down along Jocelyn Hollow, and is home to many more species. Some animals spend their whole lives in the water, some just live there when they're young, some venture to the cool water in the peak of summer to escape the heat. Below are just a few animals found enjoying the creek. They include a two lined salamander, a young bullfrog hiding underwater, an adult dusky salamander, a larval dusky salamander, a larval red salamander, an adult red salamander, a juvenile box turtle, a watersnake, and caddisfly larvae that spin intricate silk nets in which they live.