![](https://sites.evergreen.edu/l3notes/wp-content/uploads/sites/528/2020/05/canvasstrips1-225x300.png)
To assess organic matter processing (OMP) within streams across the Pumice Plain, a subset of our research focuses on the use of canvas strips! Canvas strips are a standardized method to accurately examine in-stream ecosystem function. (Tiegs et al. 2013). @ScottTiegs
Canvas strips with metal ID tags are placed across the streams and riparian zones of the Pumice Plain. This is done to measure how OMP rates vary across environmental differences in early successional streams of Mount St. Helens.
![](https://sites.evergreen.edu/l3notes/wp-content/uploads/sites/528/2020/05/canvasstrip2.png)
In order to measure OMP, canvas strip assays rely on the loss of tensile strength that corresponds to cellulose degradation while in-stream. Through collaborations with the Olympic College, our team measured this using a giant machine called a tensiometer!