MBSS Site Summary for: UMON-299-X-2012


Located on LITTLE TUSCARORA CREEK in the Upper Monocacy River watershed, 8-digit code: 02140303.
This stream was visited in the summer on 9/21/2012.

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 - 4.0 / 5.0
Benthic IBI N R

Land Use

Land use can provide important information for determining stream health.
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Catchment area 3,745 acres A highly channelized urban stream with concrete banks. An example of a highly channelized urban stream.
Urban Land Use 31.9 %
Agricultural Land Use 27.8 %
Forested Land Use 40.3 %


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 18 fish species were collected.
Sensitive taxa: Green, Tolerant: Red, Intermediate: Gold.
Common name Count
Blacknose Dace 317
Potomac Sculpin 218
Longnose Dace 66
Fantail Darter 53
Green Sunfish 47
Spotfin Shiner 24
Eastern Mosquitofish 22
Bluntnose Minnow 20
White Sucker 17
Central Stoneroller 4
Bluegill 2
Creek Chub 2
Largemouth Bass 2
Northern Hogsucker 2
Redbreast Sunfish 2
Creek Chubsucker 1
Fallfish 1
Yellow Bullhead 1
Biologists sampling fish communities.
Electrofishing to sample fish communities.

Amphibians and Reptiles:
Northern Green Frog

Crayfish:
Orconectes virilis

Exotic Plants:
Callery Pear
Canada Thistle
Japanese Honeysuckle
Japanese Stiltgrass
Mile-A-Minute
Multiflora Rose
Shrub Honeysuckle
Wineberry
 

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.