stream biological monitoring

Keys to site summary and visit report

 Washington State Department of Ecology

Select key:  site summary  |  visit report

Key to visit report

Categories:

Visit comment

The visit comment will include observations recorded during the monitoring visit. Notes may be numbered for clarity.
top

Habitat: stream chemistry, temperature, and flow

samp type Sampler type. The sampling device used to collect the macroinvertebrate sample.
loc type Location type. For the ambient project, the location type will be a habitat type--a riffle or a pool.
loc no Location number. For the ambient project, samples and measurements are typically repeated at four locations within the reach of the site. The most downstream location is numbered "1", followed by "2" for the next upstream location, continuing to "4" for the most upstream location. The location number "0" is assigned to any sample or measure intended to represent the entire reach. For example, if taxa samples taken from the four locations are mixed together, then the location number "0" is assigned to the composited sample.
temperature Temperature in Degrees Celsius.
dis o Dissolved oxygen in mg/L
stream flow Discharge in cubic feet per second
pH Acidity on a 0-14 scale
conductivity Conductivity is the ability of the water to conduct an electrical current, and is an indirect measure of the ion concentration. This measurement is expressed in microsiemens per centimeter (uS/cm) at 25 degrees Celsius.
top

Habitat: dimensions, gradient, velocity, and canopy

samp type, loc type, loc no See same in Habitat: stream chemistry, temperature, and flow.
wetted width The distance from wetted edge to wetted edge.
stream gradient % slope of the riffle associated with a sample location.
sample area Area of stream bottom sampled; expressed in square meters.
RPD Residual Pool Depth is the maximum depth of the pool minus the tailout depth.
middepth velocity The average water velocity (0.6 * depth from surface) at the macroinvertebrate sampling location.
max depth Maximum depth along the sample location transect.
DP Maximum pool depth.
canopy Percent closed canopy along the sample location transect.
bottom velocity The bottom water velocity at the macroinvertebrate sampling location.
bankful width The distance from bankfull edge to bankfull edge. The bankfull edge is defined by the transition from the stream channel to the floodplain, and is often characterized by the presence of perennial vegetation and poorly sorted sediment.
top

Habitat: substrate

samp type, loc type, loc no See same in Habitat: stream chemistry, temperature, and flow.
bedrock smooth Smooth bedrock larger than 4000 mm.
bedrock rough Rough bedrock larger than 4000 mm.
boulder Substrate inbetween 250 and 4000 mm.
cobble Substrate inbetween 64 and 250 mm.
course gravel Substrate inbetween 16 and 64 mm.
fine gravel Substrate inbetween 2 and 16 mm.
sand Substrate inbetween 0.06 and 2 mm.
silt Substrate smaller than 0.06 mm (gritty).
clay Substrate smaller than 0.06 mm (not gritty).
wood Submerged log, bark, twigs, etc.
other Typically leaves and other organic material.
top

Habitat: pebble counts

An optional pebble count may be employed along each riffle cross-section contiguous with each macroinvertebrate sampling location to characterize substrate at the reach scale (Wolman 1954; Harrelson et al. 1994; Schuett-Hames et al. 1999). One Hundred substrate particles are collected and measured along each cross-section. Data collection starts at a randomly selected point at one of the bankfull elevations along the cross-section. With an averted gaze, the sampler picks up the first particle touched by the tip of the index finger at the toe of the wader (Harrelson et al. 1994). The particle is measured along its b-axis. A substrate particle is 3-dimensional, with a long side, a short side, and an intermediate side. The b-axis is the intermediate dimension that determines if the particle would pass through a sieve of that size. The sampler then steps in the direction of the opposite bank, picking up and measuring another substrate particle. The procedure is repeated until 100 measurements are made. The measurements are assigned to the proper size class and tallied.

top

Taxa: RIVPACS score

RIVPACS (River InVertebrate Prediction and Classification System) is a model that predicts probabilities of aquatic invertebrates occurring in streams in Western Washington. The number of observed taxa (O) at a test site is divided by the expected taxa (E), yielding a ratio. A ratio of 1 indicates that all expected taxa are present. As a site becomes more degraded, fewer expected taxa are observed, yielding a smaller ratio. We are 90% confident that a ratio smaller than 0.86 is degraded relative to a reference condition.

RIVPACS is a component in Ecology's Multi-Metric Index Development for Biological Monitoring in Washington State Streams.
top

Taxa: composition*

*Composition is a component in Ecology's Multi-Metric Index Development for Biological Monitoring in Washington State Streams.

samp type, loc type, loc no See same in Habitat: stream chemistry, temperature, and flow.
comment For the ambient project, there are three possible comments:
field-compositedsample composited in the field from all sampling locations, results represent entire site
numerically-compositedsamples processed separately then count composited by computer, results represent entire site
replicateresults specific to sample taken at one location
EPT Percent of the orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera of the total sample count.
ephem Percent of the order Ephemeroptera of the total sample count.
chiron Percent of the family Chironomidae of the total sample count.
top

Taxa: richness*

*Richness is a component in Ecology's Multi-Metric Index Development for Biological Monitoring in Washington State Streams.

samp type, loc type, loc no See same in Habitat: stream chemistry, temperature, and flow.
comment See same in Taxa: composition.
Trichop richness Number of unique taxa in the order Trichoptera.
total richness Number of unique taxa.
Plecop richness Number of unique taxa in the order Plecoptera.
EPT richness Number of unique taxa in the orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera.
Ephem richness Number of unique taxa in the order Ephemeroptera.
top

Taxa: tolerance*

*Tolerance is a component in Ecology's Multi-Metric Index Development for Biological Monitoring in Washington State Streams.

samp type, loc type, loc no See same in Habitat: stream chemistry, temperature, and flow.
comment See same in Taxa: composition.
TV3 richness Number of intolerant unique taxa
HBI The Hilsenhoff Biotic Index is calculated by multiplying the number of individuals of each species by its assigned tolerance value, summing these products, and dividing by the total number of individuals.
BiTol richness Number of highly intolerant unique taxa
tv7 Percent of the Tolerant taxa (tolerance value >7) of the total sample count
top3 Percent of the top 3 abundant taxa of the total sample count
BiTol Percent of the highly tolerant taxa of the total sample count
top

Taxa: trophic/habit*

*Trophic/habit is a component in Ecology's Multi-Metric Index Development for Biological Monitoring in Washington State Streams.

samp type, loc type, loc no See same in Habitat: stream chemistry, temperature, and flow.
comment See same in Taxa: composition.
sv richness Number of unique long-lived taxa.
clinger richness Number of unique clinger taxa.
scrapers Percent of the scraper of the total sample count.
predators Percent of the predator taxa of the total sample count.
filterers Percent of the Filterer taxa of the total sample count.
clingers Percent of Clinger taxa of the total sample count.
top

Taxa: sample results

taxon id

ITIS Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN); when a TSN for a taxon does not exist, an alphanumerical code is used (Wisseman 1998).

To find information on a taxon, you may wish to search using the TSN at the Integrated Taxonomic Information System website.
taxon name Scientific name of the taxon.
density Estimated abundance of a taxon per square meter.
% of total Percent of a taxon of the total sample count.

If question, contact Chad Wiseman, cwis461@ecy.wa.gov