flora and fauna
a prairie stream and its aquatic communities
The Papillion Creek was a prairie stream. Some remnants of its original appearance remain, but most are gone. Prairie streams, and the fish that originally occupied them, are much diminished from their former state throughout the Great Plains. Reduced flow and altered hydrology have occurred because of the demands of towns and cities, agriculture, and a re-sculptured landscape. Urbanization’s paved surfaces and flood-control needs have increased the quantity and speed of the water that runs through urban streams, and altered the streams’ shape and channels. In row-crop fields, without conservation-oriented farming techniques or conservation practices in place, water runs off more rapidly instead of percolating down through the soil and sustaining a continued, moderated stream flow. The lack of cover crops, buffer strips, terraces, grassed waterways, and other protective measures, facilitates soil erosion when it rains and contributes to heavy silt loads in receiving streams which smothers fish eggs, stream-dwelling insects, larvae, and algae living on the stream bottom.
Water quality is significantly diminished in streams with high sediment loads. Sediment fills the gills of fish, insect larvae, and mussels, and reduces the available dissolved oxygen for their respiration. In urban areas, petroleum products from streets and parking lots, and herbicides/pesticides from businesses/homeowners’ lawns, and golf courses are swept into receiving streams. Oil on the water’s surface is a barrier to oxygen for aquatic life. The chemicals are often toxic to fish and insects.
The native fish species in the Papio have declined as water quality and habitat have declined—as the impacts of agriculture and urbanization have increased in the watershed. The connection between the aquatic community, fish, macroinvertebrates (shellfish, insects), and water quality has been clearly defined by biologists. A more diverse and abundant aquatic community is reflective of better water quality. In fact, a more accurate, holistic assessment of the water quality of a waterbody is best done with an evaluation of the fish and insect populations.
Two native fish species that typically used to be found in Plains streams in this area are the hornyhead chub and Topeka shiner. The hornyhead chub, documented in the Papio in the 1860s, lives primarily in small to medium-sized streams in reaches with bottoms of sand and gravel and while it does not necessarily need completely clear water, its numbers decrease significantly as turbidity (cloudiness) increases. As erosion occurs in the watershed and soil enters streams, stream water becomes turbid and the sand and gravel streambed is covered. This is what has impacted the hornyhead chub and it no longer is found in the Papillion Creek.
The Topeka shiner exists in only 20% of its historic sites in prairie streams in the central portion of the Great Plains. The species is clearly on the decline in Nebraska. Cross and Moss (1987) attribute the general decline of several prairie species to the “unstable water levels, loss of aquatic vegetation, and increasing temperatures and turbidity” resulting from agricultural development of the Great Plains without accompanying conservation practices. Topeka shiners need less direct current or backwater areas, not straight channels, and this has been lost in much of the Papillion Creek system. Lowered water levels, loss of buffering by native grasses along streams and increased silt loadings in streams has caused the increased water temperature and turbidity. Habitat alteration from activities such as ditching, channelization, and impoundment contribute to these conditions and ultimately to the loss of the Topeka shiner populations and other native fish species (Tabor, 1998). Click here for more information on the Topeka shiner.
While many people give little thought to the fishes occupying these smaller streams, the demise of certain native species is reflective of the losses to the ecosystem and the world of which we are a part.
Other native fishes impacted: The white sucker is common in small- to medium-sized streams, and though widespread in Nebraska, it only occurs in unpolluted environments and thrives in organic pools of low-gradient streams. The white sucker is another fish impacted by sediment and altered hydrology. Others include flathead chub, plains topminnow, central stoneroller. Click here for more information.
fish and fishing the papillion creek
The Papillion Creek streams are rarely fished. Few people think of the Papio as a place to go fishing. Reports from those who have fished it have found select spots—pools that sustain localized populations of mainly catfish, bullheads, and common carp. Some Missouri River species swim up into the Papillion Creeks for periods of time. However, channelization and straightening has removed many of the conditions needed for sustaining the Papillion Creek streams for recreational fishing. The streams flowing through the metropolitan area could provide family fishing, a valuable asset to the quality of life for the community, but, unfortunately that is not the case. The conditions necessary for good fishing and good non-game fish populations includes pools, snags, protected areas, aquatic vegetation, grass overhangs, and diversity in the stream and streambed materials – and these conditions are distinctly reduced in the Papio system. Fish species in many reaches are limited to those species that are tolerant of the altered conditions that are prevalent throughout the system.
Non-game fish species are indicators of aquatic system health. “The status of the non-game species reflects water quality and the status of the environment in general.” (Dr. Bob Bellig, Professor, Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, MN). Additionally, non-game fish have an important link in complex ecological chains: mussel larvae use fish gills for transport to waters in which they mature to adulthood; herons and other water birds depend on shiners and dace for food; larger fish, otters and other water-based predators feed on the smaller fish species. “The hornyhead chub and stoneroller are considered keystone species for Midwest streams”, (John Lyons, Wisconsin DNR).
channelized streams
As streams are straightened and channelized, the adjoining wetlands, meanders and diversity of depth are eliminated. Low streambanks with overhanging grasses and shrubs are replaced with stream banks set back and away from the water’s edge, thus losing the habitat and nutrients provided by terrestrial plants and insects. The water flows through a straightened and channelized system in greater quantities, higher velocity and with greater force than a natural, meandering stream. This carries away young fish, eggs, and smaller species, reducing the potential for reproducing fish populations to be established and maintained. After the rain event is over and the excess water has moved through the system, the channelized streams return more quickly to a lower water depth than un-channelized streams wherein the water remains in the system longer and water depths are consistently less shallow.
Loss of slower moving water and backwater or bends/protected areas reduces typical aquatic vegetation found in and near streams, such as arrowhead, rushes, cattail, horsetail, cord grass, sedges and duckweed. Floating, submerged, and rooted vegetation in the stream itself provides food, surfaces for attachment of eggs and invertebrates, oxygen and protection for fish and aquatic insects. Clear, cool water of good water quality gives rise to watercress, a highly prized food staple by Asian and other cultures.
While flood control requires the widened and deepened channels, it would be desirable to have a balance. Development of riffles and pools, for example, throughout the lower urban portion of the system would return some of the conditions needed by fish species. Re-establishment of wetlands or bogs would help to retain water during storm events, improve water quality, and provide aquatic habitat.
Fish species known to be caught by fishermen in the Papillion Creek:
bullheads catfish common carp drum creek chubs
Other species that escape from the city reservoirs into the creeks are on occasion:
bass bluegill crappie walleye pike
Non-game fish species in the Papio that are tolerant of environmental changes and reduced water quality:
emerald shiner bigmouth shiner red shiner common shiner
sand shiner fathead minnow bluntnose minnow
Non-game fish species in diminished abundance in the Papio because of reduced water quality, altered hydrology and habitat:
plains topminnow Johnny darter white sucker plains killifish
central stoneroller Topeka shiner flathead chub
speckled chub
plains minnow sicklefin chub blacknose shiner
sturgeon chub
NOTE: These smaller non-game fish are part of the food chain for the game fish species. While seemingly small in size and importance, their value to the health of a balanced aquatic ecosystem is significant.
Birds and animals observed along the Papillion Creek streams today:
Sandhill cranes Muskrats Garter snakes
Opossum
Big blue herons Beaver Deer
Snapping turtle
Wood ducks (with young) Woodchucks Cougars Bobcats
Mallard ducks (with young) Foxes
Red-winged blackbirds Coyotes Raccoons
native plants in the papillion creek watershed
The original landscape along Papillion Creek was comprised of native grasses, forbs, shrubs, and trees. Lewis and Clark reported seeing prairie grass as far as the eye could see as they proceeded northward on the Missouri River along present-day Nebraska and Iowa. Tall native grasses and shrubs lined the streams, cooling the water and providing fish protection from hawks and other predators. The following native plant species were likely found along the Papio and adjoining bottomlands:
Cottonwood Black cherry Raspberries Big bluestem
Willow Chokecherry Currants Little bluestem
Cherry Elderberry Gooseberries Indian grass
Plum American hazel Grapes Prairie cordgrass
Oaks – Bur Oak Sideoats grama Boxelder Needleandthread
Green Ash Hairy grama Silver Maples Switchgrass
As intensive agriculture and urbanization have developed in the watershed, wildlife habitat is reduced and lost. Wetlands naturally occurring along the streams have been drained and tiled, reducing the amphibians, and other native plants, birds, and animals dependent upon that type of environment. Wetlands are extremely valuable in filtering pollutants, nitrates, and sediment from rainwater runoff of adjoining lands, and in turn, protecting the water quality of neighboring streams. Wetlands have also been filled-in to provide more space upon which urban development occurs. While the surface appears stable, deeper in the soil structure, the soft wetland soils remain.
The value of establishing buffer or riparian strips along streams and water-carrying ditches can not be over emphasized. A 50- to 150-foot-wide strip extending back from the stream bank and planted to native grasses and/or switchgrass holds the soil in place, slows down fast-moving water from adjoining fields, and filters out sediment, chemicals, and excess fertilizers. These also provide valuable habitat for wildlife and establishes corridors of protection along our waterways. Switchgrass or brome grass (non-native) is most commonly used because of its economy, and when established, provides a dense vegetation. The Natural Resource Conservation Service has a buffer strip program whereby cost-share financial assistance is provided to the land owner for the furtherance of establishing buffer strips. While used by some, greater participation in this program is needed—unprotected stream banks can be routinely observed. Anyone with a small creek running through one’s property should establish a buffer strip alongside it.
NOTE: This section is focused on fish, plants, and wildlife of the Papillion Creek system. Urbanization in its current form stresses heavy use of fertilizers and pesticides so that home owners, golf courses and parks can have great-looking lawns. This subject will be addressed in more detail in other sections of this website.
