MBSS Site Summary for: FR-P-277-115-96


Located on BALLENGER CR UT2 in the Lower Monocacy River watershed, 8-digit code: 02140302.
This stream was visited in the spring on 3/11/1996 and again in the summer on 6/10/1996.

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 663 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 1.8 %
Agricultural Land Use 57 %
Forested Land Use 40.9 %


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

Physical Stream Habitat
Instream Habitat 9/20 (Marginal)
Epifaunal Substrate 3/20 (Poor)
Velocity/Depth Diversity 7/20 (Marginal)
Pool Quality
Pool Extent = meters 		11/20 (Suboptimal)
Riffle Quality 8/20 (Marginal)
Shading 90 %
Embeddedness 65 %
The embeddedness, a measure of silt on the stream bottom, was 65%. This is relatively high, and may exclude some biota.


Stream Water Quality:
Water temperature 21 ° C
Dissolved oxygen (DO) 7.5 mg/L
pH (lab) 7.56
Conductivity 192 µmho/cm
Alkalinity
(acid neutralizing capacity) 		743.3 µeq/L
Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) 2 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 3 fish species were collected.
Sensitive taxa: Green, Tolerant: Red, Intermediate: Gold.
Common name Count
Blacknose Dace 70
Fantail Darter 16
Creek Chub 4
Biologists sampling fish communities.
Electrofishing to sample fish communities.

Amphibians and Reptiles:
Northern Two-Lined Salamander

Crayfish:
Orconectes virilis

Exotic Plants:
No exotic plants noted.
 

Benthic Macroinvertebrates:
Sensitive taxa: Green, Tolerant: Red, Intermediate: Gold.
Genus/Family Common Name Count
Sympotthastia Non-Biting Midges 53
Cricotopus/Orthocladius Midge 15
Ameletus Combmouthed Minnow Mayfly 14
Paracapnia Small Winter Stonefly 6
Prosimulium Black Fly 6
Chrysops Deerfly 3
Leptophlebia Pronggilled Mayfly 2
Optioservus Riffle Beetle 2
Corynoneura Non-Biting Midges 1
Eurylophella Mayfly 1
Physa Air-Breathing Freshwater Snail 1
Stenelmis Beetle 1
Prostoia Spring 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.