MBSS Site Summary for: FR-P-371-132-96


Located on MOTTER'S RUN in the Upper Monocacy River watershed, 8-digit code: 02140303.
This stream was visited in the spring on 3/14/1996 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 Poor - 2.0 / 5.0
Benthic IBI Poor - 1.0 / 5.0

Land Use

Land use can provide important information for determining stream health.
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Catchment area 758 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 93.9 %
Forested Land Use 5.9 %


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 8/20 (Marginal)
Velocity/Depth Diversity 8/20 (Marginal)
Pool Quality
Pool Extent = meters 		13/20 (Suboptimal)
Riffle Quality 8/20 (Marginal)
Shading 20 %
Embeddedness 70 %
The embeddedness, a measure of silt on the stream bottom, was 70%. This is relatively high, and may exclude some biota.


Stream Water Quality:
Water temperature 20.8 ° C
Dissolved oxygen (DO) 6.3 mg/L
pH (lab) 7.57
Conductivity 322 µmho/cm
Alkalinity
(acid neutralizing capacity) 		1087 µeq/L
Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) 3.9 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 9 fish species were collected.
Sensitive taxa: Green, Tolerant: Red, Intermediate: Gold.
Common name Count
Banded Killifish 122
Bluegill 36
Bluntnose Minnow 26
Green Sunfish 21
Pumpkinseed 16
Yellow Bullhead 12
Blacknose Dace 8
Largemouth Bass 1
Lepomis Hybrid 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 Non-Biting Midges 32
Stegopterna Black Fly 25
Crangonyx Amphipod 23
Prosimulium Black Fly 7
Simulium Black Fly 5
Allocapnia Small Winter Stonefly 4
Helisoma 1
Dicrotendipes Non-Biting Midges 1
Stenonema Flatheaded 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.