MBSS Site Summary for: FR-P-351-112-96


Located on FAHRNEY BR UT1 in the Lower Monocacy River watershed, 8-digit code: 02140302.
This stream was visited in the spring on 3/21/1996 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 - 3.7 / 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 172 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 95.4 %
Forested Land Use 1.7 %


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

Physical Stream Habitat
Instream Habitat 15/20 (Suboptimal)
Epifaunal Substrate 13/20 (Suboptimal)
Velocity/Depth Diversity 11/20 (Suboptimal)
Pool Quality
Pool Extent = meters 		17/20 (Optimal)
Riffle Quality 6/20 (Marginal)
Shading 75 %
Embeddedness 80 %
The embeddedness, a measure of silt on the stream bottom, was 80%. This is relatively high, and may exclude some biota.


Stream Water Quality:
Water temperature 18.2 ° C
Dissolved oxygen (DO) 7.5 mg/L
pH (lab) 7.05
Conductivity 162 µmho/cm
Alkalinity
(acid neutralizing capacity) 		467.5 µeq/L
Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) 1.9 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 6 fish species were collected.
Sensitive taxa: Green, Tolerant: Red, Intermediate: Gold.
Common name Count
Blacknose Dace 142
Creek Chub 127
Rosyside Dace 64
Fantail Darter 19
Green Sunfish 10
White Sucker 6
Biologists sampling fish communities.
Electrofishing to sample fish communities.

Amphibians and Reptiles:
American Bullfrog
Eastern Snapping Turtle
Northern Green Frog
Northern Red Salamander
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
Conchapelopia Non-Biting Midges 21
Hydrobaenus Midge 20
Orthocladius Non-Biting Midges 15
Thienemannimyia Non-Biting Midges 7
Zavrelimyia Non-Biting Midges 7
Eurylophella Mayfly 6
Paraleptophlebia Blue Quill Mayfly 6
Amphinemura Spring Stonefly 5
Parametriocnemus Non-Biting Midges 4
Phaenopsectra Non-Biting Midges 4
Tanytarsus Non-Biting Midges 4
Baetidae Small Minnow Mayfly 3
Diplectrona Net-Spinning Caddisfly 2
Ephemerellidae Spiny Crawler Mayfly 1
Tanypodinae Non-Biting Midges 1
Hexatoma Crane Fly 1
Chrysops Deerfly 1
Chimarra Fingernet Caddisfly 1
Stenonema Flatheaded Mayfly 1
Hydroporus Water Beetle 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.