Q. What is a Benthic Macroinvertebrate?
A. Benthic means something that is in the water, Macro means big enough to see without any type of microscope or anything, and an Invertebrate is a creature that does not have a spine. So, a Benthic Macroinvertebrate is an underwater creature that you can see that does not have a spine!
Q. What is biological integrity?
A. Biological integrity is how much life a body of water can hold.
Q. What is an indicator species?
A. A creature that can be used to tell whether a body of water is polluted or not. The way they do it is because some creatures are less tolerant to pollution, so if there are more of those types of those creatures that means that there is not very much pollution.
Q. How are Benthic Macroinvertebrates good indicator species?
A. Because they stay around the same areas their entire lives.
Q. Why are salmon and trout bad indicator species?
A. Because they spend 2-3 years of their lives in the sea.
Q. How are Benthic Macroinvertebrates used to determine the biological integrity of a river or creek?
A. By taking some samples of the water and then looking at the macros that you found. You can tell how healthy the creek is by seeing how tolerant the bugs you found are to pollution.
Q. Could you rate the different Benthic Macroinvertebrates by listing the ones you want to find in a river or creek and the ones you'd rather not find in a river or creek system? Why are they rated that way?
A. From best to worst, here is the list of macros to find.
Water Pennies
Stoneflies
Mayflies
Caddisflies
Dobsonflies
Riffle Beetles
Crawling Water Beetles
Dragonflies
Backswimmers
Diving Beetle
Cray Fishes
Damsel Flies
Clams/Mussels
Midges
Scud
Water Striders
Giant Water Bugs
Sow Bugs
Crane Flies
Whirligig Beetles
Aquatic Worms
Pouch Snails
Tubifex Worms
Flat Worms
Mosquitoes
Black Flies
Leeches
They are rated like this because it's in order from the most intolerant to the most tolerant.