Event Title
Benthic Macroinvertebrate Response to Variation in Yearly Fall Discharge of The Upper Main Stem of the Susquehanna River
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Jack Holt
Start Date
24-4-2018 5:00 PM
End Date
24-4-2018 6:00 PM
Description
The study of benthic macroinvertebrate communities allows researches to analyze the water quality and the habitat health of their home streams. This is the 9th year of a study that uses BMI to assess the health of the upper main stem of the Susquehanna river in Snyder County. Two sites were utilized along the channel to the west of Byers Island, below the river's major confluence. To sample each of the sites, Hester-Dendys, an in-house kick nethod, and rock baskets were used in accordance with EPA guidelines for sampling non-wadable streams. The results were compared with discharge data gathered by the USGS, and, likely due to decreased flow rates over the past four years, Shannon Diversity and Bray-Curtis values dropped, while Hilenshoff Biotic Index values rose. These fluctuations underline the importance of multi-year sampling of higher order streams such as the Susquehanna.
Benthic Macroinvertebrate Response to Variation in Yearly Fall Discharge of The Upper Main Stem of the Susquehanna River
The study of benthic macroinvertebrate communities allows researches to analyze the water quality and the habitat health of their home streams. This is the 9th year of a study that uses BMI to assess the health of the upper main stem of the Susquehanna river in Snyder County. Two sites were utilized along the channel to the west of Byers Island, below the river's major confluence. To sample each of the sites, Hester-Dendys, an in-house kick nethod, and rock baskets were used in accordance with EPA guidelines for sampling non-wadable streams. The results were compared with discharge data gathered by the USGS, and, likely due to decreased flow rates over the past four years, Shannon Diversity and Bray-Curtis values dropped, while Hilenshoff Biotic Index values rose. These fluctuations underline the importance of multi-year sampling of higher order streams such as the Susquehanna.