MBSS Site Summary for: BA-P-125-126-96


Located on SCOTTS LEVEL BR in the Gwynns Falls watershed, 8-digit code: 02130905.
This stream was visited in the spring on 3/11/1996 and again in the summer on 6/6/1996.

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 Fair - 3.0 / 5.0
Benthic IBI Poor - 2.0 / 5.0

Land Use

Land use can provide important information for determining stream health.
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Catchment area 2,109 acres A highly channelized urban stream with concrete banks. An example of a highly channelized urban stream.
Urban Land Use 66.6 %
Agricultural Land Use 13.8 %
Forested Land Use 19.8 %


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

Physical Stream Habitat
Instream Habitat 13/20 (Suboptimal)
Epifaunal Substrate 7/20 (Marginal)
Velocity/Depth Diversity 9/20 (Marginal)
Pool Quality
Pool Extent = meters 		17/20 (Optimal)
Riffle Quality 4/20 (Poor)
Shading 50 %
Embeddedness 90 %
The embeddedness, a measure of silt on the stream bottom, was 90%. This is relatively high, and may exclude some biota.


Stream Water Quality:
Water temperature 17.2 ° C
Dissolved oxygen (DO) 8.42 mg/L
pH (lab) 7.67
Conductivity 305 µmho/cm
Alkalinity
(acid neutralizing capacity) 		1576 µeq/L
Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) 2.7 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 7 fish species were collected.
Sensitive taxa: Green, Tolerant: Red, Intermediate: Gold.
Common name Count
Fathead Minnow 64
Redbreast Sunfish 60
Creek Chub 45
Central Stoneroller 21
Green Sunfish 13
Blacknose Dace 1
Mummichog 1
Biologists sampling fish communities.
Electrofishing to sample fish communities.

Amphibians and Reptiles:
Eastern Box Turtle
Eastern Snapping Turtle
Northern Watersnake

Crayfish:
Orconectes virilis

Exotic Plants:
No exotic plants noted.
 

Benthic Macroinvertebrates:
Sensitive taxa: Green, Tolerant: Red, Intermediate: Gold.
Genus/Family Common Name Count
Tubificidae Aquatic Worm 50
Stygobromus Amphipod 6
Lumbriculidae Worm 4
Thienemannimyia Non-Biting Midges 3
Zavrelimyia Non-Biting Midges 1
Physa Air-Breathing Freshwater Snail 1
Heterotrissocladius European Non-Biting Midge 1
Caecidotea Isopod 1
Chironomidae Non-Biting Midge 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.