28 



David L. Penrose, David R. Lenat, K. W. Eagleson 



FLOOD 



M J S N 

 1977 



M M J S 

 1978 



M M 

 1979 



MONTH/YEAR 



Fig. 1. Average flow of the French Broad River at Rosman, North Carolina, 

 May 1977-July 1979. 



approximately 104 km 2 , generally ranges from 610 to 1524 m elevation, 

 and consists primarily of forest and farm land. A cursory inspection of 

 topographic maps reveals that much of the watershed lies in the Pisgah 

 National Forest. The East Fork of the French Broad joins the mainstem 

 below Rosman. 



This paper describes the composition of the aquatic macroinverte- 

 brate fauna of the Upper French Broad River (Transylvania County) 

 and selected tributaries. This fauna is then compared to that of several 

 other Appalachian streams and rivers to define "normal" faunal charac- 

 teristics of lotic systems in the geographic area. Water quality is depend- 

 ent upon watershed characteristics (Lotspeich 1980), and the nature of 

 the aquatic community is shown to be similarly dependent upon these 

 characteristics. Therefore, faunal characteristics can be used as baseline 

 information, along with water quality records, to describe the current 

 environmental quality of the watershed and indicate how this may 

 change with growth and development. 



