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Presented at the NABS Annual meeting, Vancouver, British Columbia, 2004
in Bioassessment 4
Using benthic macroinvertebrates to evaluate stream water quality within the Greater Yellowstone Network
J.L. Arnold and T.M. Koel. Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences Section, Center for Resources, P.O. Box 168, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190
The Greater Yellowstone Network is comprised of three National Park Service (NPS) units that consist of Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area (BICA), Grand Teton (GRTE), and Yellowstone National Parks (YELL). Maintaining high water quality standards within these parks is of considerable importance in fulfilling the parks mission. Current threats to water quality include road construction, grazing, mining, and agriculturally derived run-off. The primary objective of this study was to use benthic macroinvertebrates as a bioassessment tool to evaluate the current condition of selected park waters and to develop protocols for future water quality monitoring of the NPS Vital Signs Monitoring Program. During 2002, 40 sites from 19 streams were sampled using a 500 um surber net. Each collection was sub-sampled with a minimum of 500 organisms identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible. Habitat and environmental data were also collected at each site. A total of 232 taxa were identified from the three parks with 70 taxa from BICA and 165 taxa each from GRTE and YELL. The modified Helsenoff Biotic Index was calculated for each site, with thirty-one sites ranking good to excellent, seven sites ranking poor to fair, and two sites ranking very poor.
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