Water Quality and Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Diversity

Aquatic Macroinvertebrates

Aquatic Macroinvertebrates
Insects, worms, snails, crayfish, other arthropods Live in all types of water habitats Most have gills for absorbing oxygen Cannot escape pollution events Certain species are more or less tolerant of pollution

Biomonitoring
Stream biomonitoring is the study of the biological organisms present in a stream. Based on what organisms are present, you can get an idea of what the water quality is like.
Species dependent depends on number of species of different sensitivities to pollution

Watershed
land area draining into one water body

Bath Nature Preserve

Bath Creek
Lots of sunlight Abundant plant growth Warmer water Mud bottom Slow water flow

North Fork of Yellow Creek

Shaded Cooler water Few aquatic plants Fast flowing water Rocky bottom

Did you know???

Photosynthesis happens during the day, and only in plants Cellular Respiration happens all the time, in ALL living things (including green plants!) In streams with lots of plants, the amount of oxygen increases during the day, but may drop very low at night. This means some organisms may not be able to survive in the river

Photosynthesis
6CO2 + 6H2O + sunlight C6H12O6 + 6O2
Carbon dioxide + water + sun organic matter + oxygen

Cellular Respiration
C6H12O6 + 6O2 6CO2 + 6H2O + energy
Glucose + oxygen carbon dioxide + water + energy

Which stream would have more dissolved oxygen?

Bath Creek Yellow Creek

Which is Bath Creek?