Macroinvertebrates and Bioassessment Using Biological Indicators to Measure

Macroinvertebrates and Bioassessment: Using Biological Indicators to Measure Stream Health Caitlin Chaffee URI Cooperative Extension

Presentation Outline Measuring Human Impacts Biological Monitoring Macroinvertebrates as Indicators Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity Macroinvertebrate Sampling Methods § Common Macroinvertebrates § § §

Measuring Human Impacts Changes in land use affect watershed resources: • Changes in hydrology • Changes in water quality • Changes in stream morphology • Changes in stream ecology

Measuring Human Impacts Increased development = Increased Impervious Surface

Effects of Development on site Hydrology 40% evapotranspiration 38% evapotranspiration 10% runoff 25% shallow infiltration Natural Ground Cover *Percentages are estimates 20% runoff 21% shallow infiltration 25% deep infiltration 21% deep infiltration 10 – 20% Impervious Surface

Effects of Development on site Hydrology 35% evapotranspiration 30% evapotranspiration 55% runoff 30% runoff 20% shallow infiltration 35– 50% Impervious Surface *Percentages are estimates 15% deep infiltration 10% shallow infiltration 5% deep infiltration 75— 100% Impervious Surface

Hydrologic Response: Developed vs. Undeveloped Conditions DEVELOPED Runoff Volume Higher overall and peak volume WHAT DOES THIS Shorter time to peak flow MEAN? ? ? UNDEVELOPED Smaller volume, lower peak Longer time to peak flow (Q) More runoff in a shorter amount of time Time

The Results • • • Flooding Stream bank erosion Stream channel widening and deepening Lower base flows Sedimentation More pollutant inputs

Flooding

Stream Bank Erosion

Channel Widening and Deepening

Lower Base Flows

Sedimentation

Increased Pollutant Inputs

Changes to Water Quality • • • Temperature p. H Dissolved Oxygen BOD Nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) Turbidity Pathogens Heavy metals Petroleum based compounds

Measuring Human Impacts biological indicator: groups or types of biological resources that can be used to assess environmental condition. biological monitoring: the study of organisms and their responses to environmental condition biological assessment: an evaluation of the biological condition of a water body using biological monitoring data and other direct measurements of resident biota in surface waters

Biological Integrity “the ability to support and maintain a balanced, integrated, and adaptive community of organisms having a species composition, diversity and functional organization comparable to those of natural habitats within a region" † †(Karr, 1981)

Wood River

Benthic Macroinvertebrates (bottom-dwelling) (animals w/o backbones visible to naked eye) Heptageniidae sp. (Mayfly larva) Hydropsyche sp. (Caddisfly larva) Perlodidae sp. (Stonefly larva) Great candidates for biological monitoring…

Macroinvertebrates as Indicators • Limited migration patterns–good indicators of localized conditions and site-specific impacts • Integrate effects of human impacts • Easy to sample and identify • Broad range of habitat requirements and sensitivities to pollution

Human Impacts on Macroinvertebrate Communities • Changes to water chemistry / water quality parameters • Changes to habitat type

Characterizing Macroinvertebrates • Feeding habits (“functional feeding groups”) • Tolerance to Pollution

FFG Examples Diet Characteristics Predators Dragonflies, damselflies, stoneflies Other insects Toothy jaws, larger in size Shredders Stoneflies, beetles, caddisflies CPOM, leaves, woody debris Streamlined, flat Grazers / Scrapers Mayflies, Periphyton, caddisflies, true diatoms flies, beetles Scraping mandibles Gathering Collectors Mayflies, FPOM, settled worms, midges, particles, crayfish bacteria Filtering hairs, hemoglobin Filtering Collectors Black flies, netspinning caddisflies, mayflies FPOM, Some build cases phytoplankton, (caddisflies) floating particles

Functional Feeding Groups: The River Continuum (Vannote et al. , 1980) HEADWATERS: • Shredders abundant • Coarse POM MID-REACHES: • Grazers abundant • Higher 1° production LARGE RIVERS: CPOM S T R E A M O R D E R FPOM • Collectors abundant • Fine-Ultra fine POM Relative Channel Width

The Tolerance Index 0 - 10 0 most pollution sensitive e. g. Stoneflies require high DO, clear water, rocky cobble substrate 10 most pollution tolerant e. g. Midges & Leeches contain hemoglobin, tolerate lower DO, prefer soft substrate, less sensitive to toxins

Macroinvertebrates as Indicators Pollution Sensitive (“Clean Water”) Benthos Stonefly Alderfly Water Penny Beetle Mussel Mayfly Snipe Fly Dobsonfly Riffle Beetle

Macroinvertebrates as Indicators Somewhat Pollution Tolerant Benthos Damselfly Blackfly Dragonfly Caddisfly Crayfish Isopod Amphipod Cranefly

Macroinvertebrates as Indicators Pollution Tolerant (“Polluted Water”) Benthos Pouch Snail Midgefly Worm Leech

Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity (B-IBI) • Index based on macroinvertebrate samples that integrates several metrics to produce an overall “health score” for a given water body Result: dose-response curves to human impact Generalized Plot of B-IBI Scores vs. Human Impact IBI Score e. g. Taxa richness, relative abundance of certain taxa, feeding groups Human Impact e. g. Pollution, habitat degradation, flow alteration

EPA’s Suggestions for IBI Use† • • • Nonpoint Source Pollution Assessment Watershed Protection TMDL Process NPDES Permitting Ecological Risk Assessment Development of Water Quality Criteria and Standards These are suggestions…Can IBI’s be successfully implemented in these programs? † Barbour et al. , 1999

Macroinvertebrate Sampling: The Basics • Identify the goal – How will the data be used? – – Regulatory purposes Detect trends Screening purposes Educational programs • The goal should guide your sample design and dictate your methods

Macroinvertebrate Sampling: The Basics • Site selection (including reference site) • Site assessment • Organism collection and preservation – Standardize habitat type – Standardize sampling method – Dip net or sampler • Identification – Sample size – Fixed-count subsamples vs. “whole samples” • Calculation – Select metrics – Calculate IBI score – Compare to reference score

Example Method: Rapid Bioassessment Protocol • Sampled three 1 m 2 sections of stream reach (riffle habitat) with dip net • Subsample size: 100 organisms • Preserved and identified organisms in each subsample • Calculated RBP scores for each subsample

RBP Metrics # Taxa # Ephemera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera taxa % Ephemera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera taxa Family Biotic Index – based on tolerance values % Dominant taxon (diversity measure) Ratio of scrapers to filterers % Shredders Community Loss Index – comparison to reference site Maximum Score = 48 Score is then expressed as a percentage of reference site score.

Common Macroinvertebrates Mayflies (Ephemeroptera) Ephemerellidae Baetidae Heptageniidae Isonychiidae (Adult)

Common Macroinvertebrates Stoneflies (Plecoptera) Perlidae Perlodidae Peltoperlidae (Adult)

Common Macroinvertebrates Caddisflies (Trichoptera) Brachycentridae Philopotamidae Phryganeidae Case Hydropsychidae (Adult)

Common Macroinvertebrates Damselflies and Dragonflies (Odonata) True Bugs (Hemiptera) Dobsonflies, Alderflies and Fishflies (Megaloptera) Beetles (Coleoptera)

Field Day: Streamside Biosurvey • Simple method for macroinvertebrate collection and analysis • Includes macroinvertebrate collection and habitat characterization procedures • Practice identifying macroinvertebrates with keys

Acknowledgements TH ! KS N A § USDA CSREES New England Water Quality Program BENTHOS COO ARE L § Dr. Art Gold § Dr. Patrick Logan § Maria Aliberti § Sara da. Silva