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MACROINVERTEBRATE ASSEMBLAGES OF THE ST. CROIX AND WISCONSIN RIVERS: AN INITIAL APPLICATION OF THE LARGE RIVER BIOASSESSMENT PROTOCOL (LR-BP) IN THE MIDWESTERN UNITED STATES
Citation:
JOHNSON, B. R., K. A. BLOCKSOM, AND J. E. FLOTEMERSCH. MACROINVERTEBRATE ASSEMBLAGES OF THE ST. CROIX AND WISCONSIN RIVERS: AN INITIAL APPLICATION OF THE LARGE RIVER BIOASSESSMENT PROTOCOL (LR-BP) IN THE MIDWESTERN UNITED STATES. Presented at 2nd International Symposium on Ecology and Biodiversity in Large Rivers of Northeast Asia and Western North America, Harbin, CHINA, September 25 - 29, 2006.
Impact/Purpose:
The goal of this research is to develop methods and indicators that are useful for evaluating the condition of aquatic communities, for assessing the restoration of aquatic communities in response to mitigation and best management practices, and for determining the exposure of aquatic communities to different classes of stressors (i.e., pesticides, sedimentation, habitat alteration).
Description:
Since passage of the Clean Water Act, government agencies have made extensive use of biomonitoring protocols to report on the quality of wadeable streams and rivers. Non-wadeable systems have been largely overlooked because of sampling difficulties and a lack of appropriate methods and biological indicators. Large rivers are citical natural, commercial and aesthetic resources, and the need for assessment has risen along with icnreasing awareness of cumulative stressor effects and observed degradation in coastal zones. Development of standardized sampling methods and identification of appropriate indicators is the first step toward developing biocriteria for these vital resources.