A Comparison of Macroinvertebrate Communities, Habitat, and Water Chemistry Along the Length of Miller Creek

Abstract

Biological communities in streams can serve as useful monitors of habitat and chemical conditions. Recently, the use of biomonitoring to examine water resource quality has become a popular alternative, or addition to standard water assessment protocols for the purposes of management and planning, problem prioritization, and documentation of recovery following remediation efforts. A general theoretical framework for the development of biosurveys has been discussed by Karr (1991). The advantages of using biosurveys for monitoring and assessment purposes include: 1) biological communities reflect overall ecological integrity and therefore may be the most accurate status of a waterbody, 2) biological communities integrate the effects of different pollutant stressors and thus provide a measure of aggregate impact, 3) biological communities integrate stresses over time and provide an ecological measure of fluctuating environmental conditions 4) routine biological monitoring can be relatively inexpensive compared to the costs of detailed chemical and toxicity testing, 5) biological communities are often of direct interest to the public as an indicator of a pollution free environment. Macroinvertebrate communities in streams are effective biomonitors in streams that are relatively stable in time and reflect subtle differences in environmental conditions (Richards and Minshall 1992). Furthermore, general guidelines towards development and use of these communities for biomonitoring have been published widely (Plafkin et al. 1989, OHIO EPA 1987). These approaches follow the suggestions of Karr (1991) in that they utilize multiple community metrics to evaluate instream biological impairment. This approach consists of analyzing different components of the structure and function of macroinvertebrate communities. Each metric contributes ecological information on the integrity of the community in question. Several studies have reported the use of the metric approach with macroinvertebrates in streams (Barbour et al. 1992). Since many aspects of biological communities are dependant on regional and local characteristics, it is necessary to interpret biomonitoring data in light of unique regional characteristics. The purpose of the present study was to examine macroinvertebrate communities at several locations along Miller Creek to determine if biomonitoring techniques indicate significant problems along the watercourse, to compare various techniques for assessment, and to provide a preliminary database for future comparison.