MBSS Site Summary for: PATL-517-X-2013


Located on PATAPSCO RIVER in the Patapsco River L N Br watershed, 8-digit code: 02130906.
This stream was visited in the summer on 8/20/2013.

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 N R

Land Use

Land use can provide important information for determining stream health.
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Catchment area 177,424 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 16.6 %
Agricultural Land Use 41.8 %
Forested Land Use 37.6 %


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

Physical Stream Habitat

Instream Habitat not sampled
Epifaunal Substrate not sampled
Velocity/Depth Diversity not sampled
Pool Quality not sampled
Riffle Quality not sampled
Shading not sampled
Embeddedness not sampled


Stream Water Quality:

No water quality measurements available for this site.

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 24 fish species were collected.
Sensitive taxa: Green, Tolerant: Red, Intermediate: Gold.
Common name Count
Bluntnose Minnow 220
Swallowtail Shiner 196
Spottail Shiner 157
River Chub 103
American Eel 97
Spotfin Shiner 86
Central Stoneroller 57
Redbreast Sunfish 55
Common Shiner 44
Northern Hogsucker 40
Rosyface Shiner 34
Tessellated Darter 33
Smallmouth Bass 29
Satinfin Shiner 27
Blue Ridge Sculpin 25
Margined Madtom 14
Banded Killifish 9
Creek Chub 7
Cutlip Minnow 7
Rock Bass 5
Longnose Dace 3
Yellow Bullhead 2
Blacknose Dace 1
White Sucker 1
Biologists sampling fish communities.
Electrofishing to sample fish communities.

Amphibians and Reptiles:

Eastern American Toad
Northern Green Frog
Northern Water Snake

Crayfish:

Orconectes virilis

Exotic Plants:

Hydrilla Verticillata
Japanese Hops
Japanese Stiltgrass
Oriental Bittersweet
Wavyleaf Basketgrass
 

Benthic Macroinvertebrates:

Sensitive taxa: Green, Tolerant: Red, Intermediate: Gold.
Benthic data unavailable.
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.