Aquatic macroinvertebrate monitoring at Heartland Network park unit streams
Williams M. 2007. Aquatic macroinvertebrate monitoring at Heartland Network park unit streams. NPS, Heartland Network
Non-point source pollution including urban and agricultural run off, treated sewage and changes in hydrology threaten water quality and quantity in streams and springs in network parks. Concerns over declining surface water quality have led to the development of various biomonitoring techniques to assess stream water quality in those systems. Aquatic benthic invertebrates are a diverse group of relatively long-lived sedentary species that often react strongly and predictably to human disturbance making them a cost-effective and conservative tool to monitor stream water quality. Biomonitoring using aquatic invertebrates allows for the assessment of stream water quality along a gradient of conditions from unimpaired (pristine) to severely impacted (heavily polluted and/or disturbed). As such, benthic invertebrates are among the most common group of organisms used to assess water quality in streams worldwide. The National Park Service has implemented monitoring of aquatic invertebrates to help track trends in and identify factors affecting stream water quality. Invertebrate monitoring of some small prairie streams in the Prairie Cluster parks has been conducted since 1988. Additionally, draft protocols have been developed for invertebrate monitoring in the mainstem river and tributaries at Buffalo National River and mainstem river and tributaries and large volume springs at Ozark Scenic Riverways.
- Type
- Geospatial Dataset
- Authors
- Williams, Michael H.
- Date of Issue
- 2007-12-31
- Publisher
- NPS, Heartland Network
- Units
- AGFO , EFMO , GWCA , HEHO , HOME , HOSP , PERI , PIPE , TAPR , WICR
- Keywords
- Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, AGFO, Biota, Effigy Mounds National Monument, EFMO, George Washington Carver National Monument, GWCA, Heartland Network, HEHO, Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, HOME, Homestead National Monument of America, HOSP, Hot Springs National Park, Macroinvertebrates, Monitoring, Pea Ridge National Military Park, PERI, PIPE, Pipestone National Monument, Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, TAPR, WICR, Wildlife, Wilson's Creek National Battlefield