134 Ronald R. Cicerello and Robert S. Butler 



STUDY AREA 



Buck Creek, a fifth-order tributary to the Cumberland River in 

 southeastern Kentucky (Fig. 1), drains approximately 767 sq km of Lin- 

 coln, Pulaski, and Rockcastle counties and flows south 107.2 km before 

 discharging into the Cumberland River near river km 859. Impound- 

 ment of the river in 1951 to form Cumberland Reservoir permanently 

 ponded several kilometers of the lower portion of Buck Creek, and this 

 influence may extend upstream in excess of 21 km following heavy rain- 

 fall. The stream is generally less than 20 m wide and 2 m deep, but 

 achieves a maximum width of approximately 150 m and a maximum 

 depth exceeding 25 m near the mouth. Buck Creek is a high quality 

 stream with clear, well-oxygenated and buffered water (Harker et al. 

 1979, 1980). The average stream gradient along the mainstem of the 

 creek is 1.25 m/km and is also influenced by Cumberland Reservoir 

 backwaters. According to the United States Army Corps of Engineers 

 (USACE 1976), mean annual flow is 1 1.7 cu m/second. 



Buck Creek lies almost entirely within the Eastern Highland Rim 

 Subsection of the Interior Low Plateaus Physiographic Province (Quar- 

 terman and Powell 1978). Surface geology is composed primarily of 

 Mississippian Age limestone deposits with limited exposures of shale 

 bedrock in the northeastern portion of the basin. Karst topography and 

 sinking creeks associated with limestone deposits are common in the 

 watershed, especially south of latitude 37°17'00". South of Kentucky 

 route (KY) 80 the stream is deeply entrenched within the western limit 

 of the Cumberland Plateau Section of the Appalachian Plateaus Physi- 

 ographic Province. This area, associated outlying hills to the west, and 

 much of the extreme eastern boundary of the watershed are overlain 

 with erosion resistant Pennsylvanian Age sandstone. Quaternary Age 

 alluvium is limited to isolated stream channel and floodplain deposits. 



Watershed land use is primarily agricultural and secondarily forest. 

 Forested areas are small and scattered except along stream channels and 

 in the part of the watershed south of KY 80, much of which lies within 

 the proclamation boundary of the Daniel Boone National Forest. Coal 

 stripmines and limestone quarries also occur in the watershed south of 

 KY 80 and each comprises less than 1% of the watershed area. Two small 

 (15 and 1 1 ha) flood control reservoirs were constructed within the Lin- 

 coln County part of the watershed by the Soil Conservation Service (T. 

 A. Heard, pers. comm.). 



MATERIALS AND METHODS 



Fifty-nine collections are reported from thirty-nine collection sites 

 in the Buck Creek drainage (Table 1, Fig. 1). Each collection site 

 includes the stream name, locality, county, and collection date(s). Col- 

 lections were made by the authors, except as noted, using seines, gill 



