MBSS Site Summary for: AA-N-003-025-95


Located on Little Patuxent River in the Little Patuxent River watershed, 8-digit code: 02131105.
This stream was visited in the summer on 8/29/1995.

Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) Results:

An Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) is a scientific tool used to identify and classify stream health. An IBI associates anthropogenic influences on a stream or with biological condition in the stream, and is formulated using data developed from biosurveys.
Details on the development and application of MBSS IBIs are in this document.
Fish IBI N R
Benthic IBI N R

Land Use

Land use can provide important information for determining stream health.
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Catchment area No data available Cows standing in a stream at a site with high agricultural land use. Cows survey the sampling procedure at this extreme example of a highly agriculturalized site.
Urban Land Use No data available
Agricultural Land Use No data available
Forested Land Use No data available


Stream showing woody debris, logs, and rocky substrate.
An example of woody debris in a stream.

Physical Stream Habitat
Instream Habitat 16/20 (Optimal)
Epifaunal Substrate 16/20 (Optimal)
Velocity/Depth Diversity 17/20 (Optimal)
Pool Quality
Pool Extent = meters 		15/20 (Suboptimal)
Riffle Quality 18/20 (Optimal)
Shading 50 %
Embeddedness 60 %
The embeddedness, a measure of silt on the stream bottom, was 60%. This is relatively high, and may exclude some biota.
Several measures of instream habitat were considered 'Optimal' at this location.


Stream Water Quality:
Water temperature 23.4 ° C
Dissolved oxygen (DO) 9.5 mg/L
Conductivity 464 µmho/cm

Biological Stream Condition:

Surveys of the organisms living within a stream can give indications of stream health. Species richness, or the number of different species present, as well as indicator species (species whose presence, absence or abundance can serve as a measure of environmental conditions) are informative for stream health. 		Close-up of a mayfly indicator species.

Fish Survey Results:
The following 22 fish species were collected.
Sensitive taxa: Green, Tolerant: Red, Intermediate: Gold.
Common name Count
Swallowtail Shiner 96
Satinfin Shiner 62
Fallfish 58
Tessellated Darter 54
American Eel 47
Redbreast Sunfish 21
Bluegill 20
White Sucker 18
Yellow Bullhead 10
Channel Catfish 6
Eastern Mosquitofish 6
Creek Chub 5
Largemouth Bass 5
River Chub 4
Sea Lamprey 4
Eastern Mudminnow 3
Rosyface Shiner 2
Smallmouth Bass 2
Blacknose Dace 1
Golden Shiner 1
Longnose Dace 1
Redfin Pickerel 1
Biologists sampling fish communities.
Electrofishing to sample fish communities.

Amphibians and Reptiles:
American Bullfrog
Eastern Cricket Frog
Northern Green Frog
Pickerel Frog
Red-Spotted Newt

Crayfish:
No crayfish noted.

Exotic Plants:
No exotic plants noted.
 

Benthic Macroinvertebrates:
Sensitive taxa: Green, Tolerant: Red, Intermediate: Gold.
Benthic data unavailable.
Kick net sampling for macroinvertebrates.
Sampling with a kick net.

Information disclaimer: The information and data on this page is for guidance and general planning purposes only. It should not be used to make decisions on specific matters.