MBSS Site Summary for: CR-P-116-316-96


Located on PINEY CR in the Upper Monocacy River watershed, 8-digit code: 02140303.
This stream was visited in the spring on 3/5/1996 and again in the summer on 8/7/1996.

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 Poor - 1.8 / 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 20,936 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 2.6 %
Agricultural Land Use 81.8 %
Forested Land Use 14.7 %


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

Physical Stream Habitat
Instream Habitat 18/20 (Optimal)
Epifaunal Substrate 11/20 (Suboptimal)
Velocity/Depth Diversity 16/20 (Optimal)
Pool Quality
Pool Extent = meters 		18/20 (Optimal)
Riffle Quality 11/20 (Suboptimal)
Shading 75 %
Embeddedness 55 %
The embeddedness, a measure of silt on the stream bottom, was 55%. 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 22.2 ° C
Dissolved oxygen (DO) 9.6 mg/L
pH (lab) 7.94
Conductivity 256 µmho/cm
Alkalinity
(acid neutralizing capacity) 		889.7 µeq/L
Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) 3.1 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 18 fish species were collected.
Sensitive taxa: Green, Tolerant: Red, Intermediate: Gold.
Common name Count
Bluntnose Minnow 51
Greenside Darter 33
Smallmouth Bass 21
Redbreast Sunfish 16
White Sucker 15
Margined Madtom 12
Spottail Shiner 11
Blacknose Dace 7
Yellow Bullhead 7
Bluegill 6
Creek Chub 6
Spotfin Shiner 4
Tessellated Darter 4
Northern Hogsucker 3
Green Sunfish 2
Longnose Dace 2
Cutlip Minnow 1
Silverjaw Minnow 1
Biologists sampling fish communities.
Electrofishing to sample fish communities.

Amphibians and Reptiles:
Eastern American Toad
Eastern Snapping Turtle

Crayfish:
Orconectes virilis

Exotic Plants:
No exotic plants noted.
 

Benthic Macroinvertebrates:
Sensitive taxa: Green, Tolerant: Red, Intermediate: Gold.
Genus/Family Common Name Count
Hydrobaenus Midge 65
Cricotopus/Orthocladius Midge 43
Stenonema Flatheaded Mayfly 4
Caenis Mayfly 2
Crangonyx Amphipod 2
Pseudolimnophila Crane Fly 2
Allocapnia Small Winter Stonefly 2
Larsia Non-Biting Midge 1
Cryptochironomus Non-Biting Midges 1
Centroptilum Small Minnow Mayfly 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.