MBSS Site Summary for: BA-P-315-301-96


Located on LONG GREEN CR in the Lower Gunpowder Falls watershed, 8-digit code: 02130802.
This stream was visited in the spring on 4/3/1996 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 Fair - 3.0 / 5.0

Land Use

Land use can provide important information for determining stream health.
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Catchment area 5,180 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 1.7 %
Agricultural Land Use 75.2 %
Forested Land Use 22.9 %


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

Physical Stream Habitat
Instream Habitat 8/20 (Marginal)
Epifaunal Substrate 6/20 (Marginal)
Velocity/Depth Diversity 16/20 (Optimal)
Pool Quality
Pool Extent = meters 		14/20 (Suboptimal)
Riffle Quality 15/20 (Suboptimal)
Shading 25 %
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 13.9 ° C
Dissolved oxygen (DO) 10 mg/L
pH (lab) 7.55
Conductivity 205 µmho/cm
Alkalinity
(acid neutralizing capacity) 		1514 µeq/L
Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) 2.3 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 12 fish species were collected.
Sensitive taxa: Green, Tolerant: Red, Intermediate: Gold.
Common name Count
Tessellated Darter 114
Blacknose Dace 99
White Sucker 89
Creek Chub 45
Bluegill 32
American Eel 21
Longnose Dace 20
Cutlip Minnow 6
Redbreast Sunfish 6
Swallowtail Shiner 2
Common Shiner 1
Rosyside Dace 1
Biologists sampling fish communities.
Electrofishing to sample fish communities.

Amphibians and Reptiles:
Northern Dusky Salamander

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 72
Cricotopus Non-Biting Midges 24
Orthocladius Non-Biting Midges 3
Optioservus Riffle Beetle 3
Limnodrilus Worm 3
Stenelmis Beetle 1
Prosimulium Black Fly 1
Antocha Crane Fly 1
Eurylophella Mayfly 1
Hydropsyche Net-Spinning Caddisfly 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.