Assessing Water

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Assessing Water Quality with Biology
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What are Benthic Macroinvertebrates?
Benthic of, relating to, or occurring at the
bottom of a body of water Benthos organisms
that live on or in the bottom of a body of
water Macroinvertebrate spineless animal that
can be retained on a 500 µ (micron) net
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Stream Sampling for Macroinvertebrates

• Sample stream habitats
• Collect macroinvertebrates based on MBSS
  protocols
• ID macroinvertebrates in the classroom
• Apply metric analyses of organism groups
• Determine water quality of stream

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Stream Reach
Direction of sampling
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Stream Habitats

• Riffles
• Runs
• Pools
• Root mass, leaf litter
• Undercut banks

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Riffles

• Do the dance in front of the net
• Remove organisms from under large rocks
• Collect material until water runs clear

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Pools

• Jab at material on the bottom of the pool.
• Sweep net to collect organisms

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Root mass and leaf litter

• Jab net under roots and leaf litter
• Remove as much debris as possible
• Inspect debris for organisms

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Undercut Bank

• Jab net under the bank
• Remove as much debris as possible
• Inspect debris for organisms

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Crayfish

• Crayfish should be tallied and released

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Organisms released, not tallied
Blacknosed Dace
Salamanders
American Eel
Green Frog
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DNR Review Sheet
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• DNR is trying a streamside ID technique
• Volunteers collect and ID samples streamside

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Tally Sheet

• Your sample ID will take place in the classroom.

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GIS

• All stream data can be mapped
• Temperature
• Depth
• Width
• Trash
• etc
• All metrics can be mapped
• Overall water quality based on metrics