MBSS Site Summary for: BA-P-160-205-96


Located on CARROLL BR in the Loch Raven Reservoir watershed, 8-digit code: 02130805.
This stream was visited in the spring on 4/3/1996 and again in the summer on 7/1/1996.

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 - 3.3 / 5.0
Benthic IBI Fair - 3.3 / 5.0

Land Use

Land use can provide important information for determining stream health.
(Hint: Screen readers will announce definitions; mouse users can hover over dotted text.)
Catchment area 3,896 acres 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 0 %
Agricultural Land Use 71.9 %
Forested Land Use 27.6 %


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

Physical Stream Habitat
Instream Habitat 11/20 (Suboptimal)
Epifaunal Substrate 10/20 (Marginal)
Velocity/Depth Diversity 16/20 (Optimal)
Pool Quality
Pool Extent = meters 		16/20 (Optimal)
Riffle Quality 13/20 (Suboptimal)
Shading 70 %
Embeddedness 55 %
The embeddedness, a measure of silt on the stream bottom, was 55%. This is relatively high, and may exclude some biota.


Stream Water Quality:
Water temperature 18.4 ° C
Dissolved oxygen (DO) 10.4 mg/L
pH (lab) 7.77
Conductivity 135 µmho/cm
Alkalinity
(acid neutralizing capacity) 		448 µeq/L
Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) 1.3 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 15 fish species were collected.
Sensitive taxa: Green, Tolerant: Red, Intermediate: Gold.
Common name Count
Blacknose Dace 94
Creek Chub 69
Rosyside Dace 40
White Sucker 36
Longnose Dace 23
Tessellated Darter 19
Margined Madtom 12
Common Shiner 11
Brown Trout 9
Cutlip Minnow 3
Northern Hogsucker 2
Fallfish 1
Longear Sunfish 1
River Chub 1
Yellow Bullhead 1
Biologists sampling fish communities.
Electrofishing to sample fish communities.

Amphibians and Reptiles:
Northern Dusky Salamander
Northern Green Frog

Crayfish:
Orconectes virilis

Exotic Plants:
No exotic plants noted.
 

Benthic Macroinvertebrates:
Sensitive taxa: Green, Tolerant: Red, Intermediate: Gold.
Genus/Family Common Name Count
Ephemerella Sulphur Mayfly 33
Cricotopus/Orthocladius Midge 31
Optioservus Riffle Beetle 6
Stenonema Flatheaded Mayfly 4
Enchytraeidae Aquatic Worm 4
Prosimulium Black Fly 4
Cheumatopsyche Net-Spinning Caddisfly 2
Hydropsyche Net-Spinning Caddisfly 2
Hemerodromia Tiny Fly 2
Limnodrilus Worm 1
Acerpenna Tiny Blue-Winged Olive Mayflies 1
Oulimnius Riffle Beetle 1
Amphinemura Spring Stonefly 1
Diplectrona Net-Spinning Caddisfly 1
Nemouridae Nemourid Stonefly 1
Ameletus Combmouthed Minnow Mayfly 1
Strophopteryx Early Brown Stonefly 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.