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A collection of benthic macro invertebrates found in Six Mile Creek

Biological monitoring is a fun, affordable, and effective method of stream monitoring. BMI, or Benthic (bottom-dwelling aquatic organisms) Macro (visible to the naked eye) Invertebrates (organisms without backbones) can tell us a lot about stream health. Benthic macro-invertebrates live on stream bottoms and include a wide variety of insects (during one or more stages of their life cycles) and other small aquatic organisms. They feed on algae, decomposing organic matter from local landscape sources such as leaf litter; sometimes eat each other. They themselves are the base of both aquatic and terrestrial food chains.

 

A healthy stream fosters a good diversity of aquatic invertebrate species which vary in their tolerance for impaired water quality. Therefore, one of the most effective ways to monitor surface water quality can be through biological assessment of BMI in area streams. BMI assessment complements chemical monitoring. Chemical monitoring produces snapshots of water quality on a particular day. Since BMI organisms live in streams for months and vary in their tolerance to pollution, the populations of organisms present in a stream indicate the overall health of a stream as aquatic habitat.Visit the Results page for details about the metrics and results from BMI assessment in local streams.

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[accordion_item title=”What do biological monitoring volunteers do?” accordion=”accordion”]Volunteers from the synoptic sampling and the “red flag” monitoring programs participate in biological monitoring. Volunteers are trained by CSI staff in BMI sample collection, adhering to the Hudson Basin River Watch guidance document, using a kick net and collecting two replicate samples per location. BMI samples are preserved on site with isopropyl alcohol and processed in the CSI lab. Volunteers randomly select a portion of the sample to identify, then pick out, identify, and count each organism in that portion of the sample. CSI volunteers currently identify BMI samples to down to family level, or Tier III standards. Once organisms are counted and identified, several metrics are calculated to measure stream health.

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How to collect a BMI sample:

Biological Monitoring | Community Science Institute