Macroinvertebrates

Macroinvertebrate and day summary:

Today we sampled macroinvertebrates. Overall today went well, while I could not collect 200 total macroinvertebrates, in 4 collections I collected a total of 34 macroinvertebrates including 7 different species. In the stream, the most abundant macroinvertebrates were caddisfly larvae and stonefly larvae. I was pleased with this because both caddisfly larvae and stonefly larvae are intolerant of pollutants in the water which means the stream is most likely extremely clean. During my third round of collecting  I found the largest macroinvertebrate I had ever seen, not including the antennas it was probably 2-3 times larger than the other stoneflies. In total after adding up all of the different macroinvertebrates and creating the percentages the stream scored a 9 out of 12 and got Acceptable ecological condition. I also collected a crayfish and multiple minnows. to end the day I tested the pH, conductivity, and temperature of the stream before leaving for the day.