MBSS Site Summary for: CR-P-142-324-96


Located on PINEY CR in the Upper Monocacy River watershed, 8-digit code: 02140303.
This stream was visited in the spring on 3/6/1996 and again in the summer on 8/6/1996.

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 Good - 4.0 / 5.0
Benthic IBI Poor - 2.3 / 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 11,930 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 1.9 %
Agricultural Land Use 81.5 %
Forested Land Use 15.4 %


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

Physical Stream Habitat
Instream Habitat 12/20 (Suboptimal)
Epifaunal Substrate 7/20 (Marginal)
Velocity/Depth Diversity 15/20 (Suboptimal)
Pool Quality
Pool Extent = meters 		17/20 (Optimal)
Riffle Quality 10/20 (Marginal)
Shading 60 %
Embeddedness 85 %
The embeddedness, a measure of silt on the stream bottom, was 85%. This is relatively high, and may exclude some biota.


Stream Water Quality:
Water temperature 23.7 ° C
Dissolved oxygen (DO) 10.7 mg/L
pH (lab) 7.54
Conductivity 214 µmho/cm
Alkalinity
(acid neutralizing capacity) 		762.5 µeq/L
Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) 6.6 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 20 fish species were collected.
Sensitive taxa: Green, Tolerant: Red, Intermediate: Gold.
Common name Count
Bluntnose Minnow 329
Spottail Shiner 322
Silverjaw Minnow 289
White Sucker 175
Central Stoneroller 135
Creek Chub 68
Greenside Darter 57
Fantail Darter 43
Potomac Sculpin 29
Redbreast Sunfish 26
Largemouth Bass 9
Pumpkinseed 7
Longnose Dace 6
Margined Madtom 6
Bluegill 5
Green Sunfish 4
Blacknose Dace 3
Yellow Bullhead 2
Common Shiner 1
Smallmouth Bass 1
Biologists sampling fish communities.
Electrofishing to sample fish communities.

Amphibians and Reptiles:
No amphibians and reptiles noted.

Crayfish:
Orconectes virilis

Exotic Plants:
No exotic plants noted.
 

Benthic Macroinvertebrates:
Sensitive taxa: Green, Tolerant: Red, Intermediate: Gold.
Genus/Family Common Name Count
Cricotopus/Orthocladius Midge 30
Paracapnia Small Winter Stonefly 21
Hydrobaenus Midge 15
Leucrocuta Mayfly 13
Caenis Mayfly 9
Prosimulium Black Fly 2
Stenonema Flatheaded Mayfly 2
Conchapelopia Non-Biting Midges 2
Parametriocnemus Non-Biting Midges 2
Leptophlebia Pronggilled Mayfly 1
Baetidae Small Minnow Mayfly 1
Ephemera Mayfly 1
Hyalella Amphipod 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.