MBSS Site Summary for: AL-A-567-126-96


Located on SAND SPRING RUN UT1 in the Georges Creek watershed, 8-digit code: 02141004.
This stream was visited in the spring on 4/17/1996 and again in the summer on 6/26/1996.

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 Poor - 1.0 / 5.0
Benthic IBI Poor - 2.3 / 5.0

Land Use

Land use can provide important information for determining stream health.
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Catchment area 161 acres A stream flowing through a densely forested area. An example of a forested stream.
Urban Land Use 0.6 %
Agricultural Land Use 10.6 %
Forested Land Use 87 %


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

Physical Stream Habitat

Instream Habitat 9/20 (Marginal)
Epifaunal Substrate 1/20 (Poor)
Velocity/Depth Diversity 11/20 (Suboptimal)
Pool Quality
Pool Extent = meters
15/20 (Suboptimal)
Riffle Quality 4/20 (Poor)
Shading 97 %
Embeddedness 75 %
The embeddedness, a measure of silt on the stream bottom, was 75%. This is relatively high, and may exclude some biota.


Stream Water Quality:

Water temperature 15 ° C
Dissolved oxygen (DO) 7.5 mg/L
pH (lab) 4.57
Conductivity 255 µmho/cm
Alkalinity
(acid neutralizing capacity)
-12.7 µeq/L
Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) 1.6 mg/L

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 1 fish species were collected.
Sensitive taxa: Green, Tolerant: Red, Intermediate: Gold.
Common name Count
No Fish Observed 0
Biologists sampling fish communities.
Electrofishing to sample fish communities.

Amphibians and Reptiles:

No amphibians and reptiles noted.

Crayfish:

Cambarus bartonii bartonii

Exotic Plants:

No exotic plants noted.
 

Benthic Macroinvertebrates:

Sensitive taxa: Green, Tolerant: Red, Intermediate: Gold.
Genus/Family Common Name Count
Ostrocerca Stonefly 50
Leuctra  Rolled-Winged Stonefly 28
Stegopterna Black Fly 23
Micrasema 3
Peltoperla 1
Isoperla Stripetail Stonefly 1
Wormaldia Fingernet Caddisfly 1
Rhyacophila Free-Living Caddisfly 1
Dicranota Hairy-Eyed Cranefly 1
Diplectrona Net-Spinning Caddisfly 1
Tvetenia Non-Biting Midges 1
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.