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COMPARATIVE PERFORMANCE OF SIX DIFFERENT BENTHIC MACROINVERTEBRATE SAMPLING METHODS FOR RIVERINE ECOSYSTEMS
Citation:
Blocksom, K A. AND J E. Flotemersch. COMPARATIVE PERFORMANCE OF SIX DIFFERENT BENTHIC MACROINVERTEBRATE SAMPLING METHODS FOR RIVERINE ECOSYSTEMS. Presented at EMAP Symposium, Kansas City, MO, May 7-9, 2002.
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:
At each of 60 sites, we collected benthic macroinvertebrates using six different protocols (including the EMAP methods for non-wadeable rivers) and physical habitat data using the USEPA-EMAP-SW protocols for non-wadeable rivers. We used PCA with physical habitat data and DCA with benthic macroinvertebrate data, each resulting in a separation of sites into two groups based on mean site depth. For a set of selected metrics, we compared values among methods within depth groups. In addition, relationships between measured stressors and selected macroinvertebrate metrics were compared among sampling methods. The correlation between stressors and metrics was not consistent among methods or between depth groups. Based on these results, selection of an appropriate method should depend on many factors, including physical characteristics of the site (depth), study objectives, and time constraints.