Bioassessment of aquatic invertebrates along the Belle Fourche River at Devils Tower National Monument
Tronstad L. 2014. Bioassessment of aquatic invertebrates along the Belle Fourche River at Devils Tower National Monument. Natural Resource Technical Report. NPS/NGPN/NRTR—2014/838. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
The Belle Fourche River runs through Devils Tower National Monument in northeastern Wyoming and is an important source of water for the area. To estimate the ecosystem quality of the Belle Fourche River within the park, I collected aquatic invertebrates at three sites using a Hess sampler. Invertebrates were identified and counted under a dissecting microscope. Each taxon was assigned a functional feeding group, habit, and tolerance value based on published categories and I calculated 24 bioassessment metrics. Total invertebrate density in the Belle Fourche River was 3760 individuals/m2. I identified at least 31 different taxa that lived in the river and about 13 taxa were collected in each sample. Bioassessment metrics indicated that the ecosystem quality of the river was good, especially at sites #1 and #2. However, site #3 often showed more impacted values compared to the other two sites. Site #3 had a higher % Chironomidae and % tolerant (tolerance values of 6.0-7.0) individuals, and lower % clinger taxa, % EPT (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera), % filterers, % intolerant, EPT/Chironomidae ratio, and taxa diversity compared to the other two sites. The lower metric values at site #3 may be attributed to different substrate or anthropogenic disturbance from a large campground located near site #3. The average tolerance value of an invertebrate in the assemblage was 5.4 on a scale of 0 (intolerant to pollution) to 10 (tolerant to pollution). Overall, the Belle Fourche River appears to have good ecosystem quality.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Tronstad, Lusha
- Date of Issue
- 2014-01
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- DETO , NGPN , NRSS
- Keywords
- Aquatic Invertebrate Monitoring, inventory report, invertebrate inventory
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Water | Water Quality | Aquatic Macroinvertebrates and Algae