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DEVELOPMENT OF MACROINVERTEBRATE INDICATORS FOR NONWADEABLE TRIBUTARIES TO THE OHIO AND MISSISSIPPI RIVERS
Citation:
BLOCKSOM, K. A. AND B. R. JOHNSON. DEVELOPMENT OF MACROINVERTEBRATE INDICATORS FOR NONWADEABLE TRIBUTARIES TO THE OHIO AND MISSISSIPPI RIVERS. Presented at SWIMS Conference, Chicago, IL, January 30 - February 01, 2007.
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:
In 2004-02005, macroinvertebrates were sampled from selected large rivers of the upper Midwest to develop appropriate assessment indicators. Macroinvertebrates, habitat and water chemistry data were collected from 132 randomly selected sites across 6 rivers with varying land cover influences. From the abiotic data collected, a principal components analysis (PCA) was used to develop a generalized stressor gradient and to select least disturbed and highly stressed sites for indicator development. Over 100 metrics were then evaluated for range, responsiveness, redundancy and variability to identify those that would best represent biological condition across sites. A multimetric index was built from a set of 7 metrics representing various aspects of the macroinvertebrate assemblage and was used to estimate condition in each river sampled. Within each river, the range of conditions tended to be quite narrow, but across rivers, a wide range of conditions was represented. The metrics and index presented provide an effective measure of biological condition in these river systems. As such, these indicators warrant further testing on their general use for assessing rivers in the Midwest.