Macroinvertebrate Study

Aquatic macroinvertebrates are small invertebrates that live in freshwater. These can include juvenile stages of many insects like dragonflies, damselflies, mayflies, caddisflies, water beetles, and more. Each type of waterbug has a certain sensitivity to pollution or water quality changes in their waterway. So the type and number of bugs found in a waterway, can tell you how healthy it is. The more polluted, the less species/number of bugs present.

Setting up for River Sampling

Most of the information in a sample of bugs comes from the diversity of bugs present. This information is solidly linked to the sub-habitats that the sample has been taken from. Leaf packs provide an important food source/habitat in faster flowing rivers. These are collections of leaves and bark that become lodged behind rocks in the stream and slowly build up as they ensnare other passing detritus and become small hotspots for diversity. Different sizes of rock and subtly different hydraulic conditions can favour distinctly different animals. The patchiness of these habitats makes it important to try and sample as broad a range of sub-habitats as possible to make sure you have a good sample of the diversity available at a site.