20 th Annual Student GREEN Congress

1. 20th Annual Student GREEN Congress “Counting Critters” Workshop

2. What are Benthic Macroinvertebrates? • Benthic = bottom dwelling • Macro = large enough to see with the naked eye • Invertebrate = without a backbone (could be a clam, a worm, a crab, or an insect, for example) Often refer to them as “stream bugs”

3. Big Diversity of Benthic Macroinvertebrates Stonefly Leech Black fly larva Mayfly Dragonfly Caddisfly Gilled snail Cranefly Mosquito Midge Crawdad

4. Why Do We Monitor Stream Bugs? Chemical WQ data offers good, but limited information. • Only a “snapshot” view of conditions • Doesn’t measure “biology” Nitrates Fecal coliform pH D.O. T.S.S Temperature

5. Biological Assessment • Use living organisms to tell us something about the environment

6. Why Use “stream bugs” in Bioassessment of Streams • Abundant • Diverse • Sedentary

7. Plus, They Have the Same Habitat Needs as Salmon • Clean, cold, oxygenated water • Connected migration paths • Habitat features for spawning and rearing • Dependable stream flows

8. Stream Bugs Tell A Story • No “good” or “bad” bugs • Presence or absence can be indicators of good or poor stream health. • Diversity (not total number of bugs) = Healthier sample

9. How Do They Tell The Story? • B.I.B.I. • “Benthic Index of Biological Integrity” • 10 “metrics” indicating stream health

10. 10 Metrics Mayfly larva • Taxa richness • # mayfly taxa (Ephemeroptera) • # stonefly taxa (Plecoptera) • # caddisflytaxa (Trichoptera) • # long-lived taxa • # intolerant taxa • % tolerant taxa • % predators • # clinger taxa • % dominance (3 taxa) Stonefly larva Caddisfly larva Caddisfly case

11. Taxa Richness Stonefly Leech Black fly larva Mayfly Dragonfly Caddisfly Gilled snail Cranefly Mosquito Midge Crawdad

12. % Dominance (3 taxa) Tolerant species Intolerant species bloodworm Ephemeroptera Plecoptera leech Plecoptera netspinner caddisfly Trichoptera

13. Number of Intolerant Taxa lepidostomatidae caddisfly Dobsonfly larva Gilled snail Water penny Riffle beetle ephemerellidae mayfly nymph capniidae stonefly nymph

14. % Tolerant Taxa black fly larva leech Midge larva bloodworm baetidae mayflies netspinner caddisfly

15. Number of Clinger Taxa Water penny Mayfly nymph Stonefly nymph Alderfly Caddisfly larvae – Caddisfly Riffle beetle larva

16. Number of Long-Lived Taxa Pteronarcys stonefly Dragonfly nymph Dragonfly nymph Alderfly larva Gilled snail

17. Number of Mayfly Taxa(Ephemeroptera)

18. Number of CaddisflyTaxa(Trichoptera)

19. Number of Stonefly Taxa(Plecoptera)

20. % Predators taxa Great diving beetle Rhycophila caddisfly Stonefly larva Dragonfly larva water beetle

21. Computing the B.I.B.I. • Example: Taxa Richness 0-20 taxa = low (1) 21-40 taxa = moderate (3) 40+ taxa = high (5)

22. Computing the B.I.B.I. • Taxa richness 1 3 5 • # mayfly taxa (Ephemeroptera) 1 3 5 • # stonefly taxa (Plecoptera) 1 3 5 • # caddisflytaxa (Trichoptera)1 3 5 • # long-lived taxa1 3 5 • # intolerant taxa 1 3 5 • % tolerant taxa1 3 5 • % predators 1 3 5 • # clinger taxa 1 3 5 • % dominance (3 taxa) 1 3 5

23. Computing the B.I.B.I. • Taxa richness 3 • # mayfly taxa (Ephemeroptera) 5 • # stonefly taxa (Plecoptera) 3 • # caddisflytaxa (Trichoptera) 1 • # long-lived taxa1 • # intolerant taxa3 • % tolerant taxa1 • % predators 3 • # clinger taxa5 • % dominance (3 taxa) 5 • TOTAL: 30

24. Final B.I.B.I. Scores* • 10 – 16 = Very Poor • 18 - 26 = Poor • 28 – 36 = Fair • 38 – 44 = Good • 46 - 50 = Excellent *10 Metric B-IBI Score used by Mindy Allen Caddisfly Stonefly

25. When in the Field…. Observe: land use, canopy cover…etc.