MBSS Site Summary for: HA-P-038-106-96


Located on HEAVENLY WATERS in the Atkisson Reservoir watershed, 8-digit code: 02130703.
This stream was visited in the spring on 3/26/1996 and again in the summer on 7/22/1996.

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 - 5.0 / 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 685 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 17.2 %
Agricultural Land Use 44.1 %
Forested Land Use 38.5 %


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

Physical Stream Habitat
Instream Habitat 14/20 (Suboptimal)
Epifaunal Substrate 12/20 (Suboptimal)
Velocity/Depth Diversity 15/20 (Suboptimal)
Pool Quality
Pool Extent = meters 		15/20 (Suboptimal)
Riffle Quality 14/20 (Suboptimal)
Shading 80 %
Embeddedness 60 %
The embeddedness, a measure of silt on the stream bottom, was 60%. This is relatively high, and may exclude some biota.


Stream Water Quality:
Water temperature 17.7 ° C
Dissolved oxygen (DO) 9.7 mg/L
pH (lab) 7.93
Conductivity 225 µmho/cm
Alkalinity
(acid neutralizing capacity) 		1032 µeq/L
Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) 1.4 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 11 fish species were collected.
Sensitive taxa: Green, Tolerant: Red, Intermediate: Gold.
Common name Count
Blue Ridge Sculpin 181
Blacknose Dace 147
Rosyside Dace 73
Creek Chub 65
Common Shiner 57
Bluntnose Minnow 32
White Sucker 30
Longnose Dace 21
Cutlip Minnow 7
Fallfish 7
Redbreast Sunfish 1
Biologists sampling fish communities.
Electrofishing to sample fish communities.

Amphibians and Reptiles:
American Bullfrog
Pickerel Frog

Crayfish:
Orconectes virilis

Exotic Plants:
No exotic plants noted.
 

Benthic Macroinvertebrates:
Sensitive taxa: Green, Tolerant: Red, Intermediate: Gold.
Genus/Family Common Name Count
Cheumatopsyche Net-Spinning Caddisfly 2
Oulimnius Riffle Beetle 2
Lumbriculidae Worm 1
Orthocladius Non-Biting Midges 1
Probezzia Biting Midges 1
Chrysops Deerfly 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.