HR: 16:15h
AN: NB44A-04    [Abstracts]
TI: A Methods Comparison for Collecting Macroinvertebrates in the Ohio River
AU: * Wooten, M S
EM: mwooten@orsanco.org
AF: Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission, 5735 Kellogg Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45228 United States
AU: Emery, E B
EM: emery@orsanco.org
AF: Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission, 5735 Kellogg Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45228 United States
AU: Johnson, B R
EM: johnson.brent@epa.gov
AF: US EPA, National Exposure Research Laboratoty, 26 W. Martin Luther King Dr. MS 642, Cincinnati, OH 45228 United States
AU: Blocksom, K
EM: blocksom.karen@epa.gov
AF: US EPA, National Exposure Research Laboratoty, 26 W. Martin Luther King Dr. MS 642, Cincinnati, OH 45228 United States
AB: Collection of representative benthic macroinvertebrate samples from large rivers has been challenging researchers for many years. The objective of our study was to develop an appropriate method(s) for sampling macroinvertebrates from the Ohio River. Four existing sampling methods were compared in the Markland Pool of the Ohio River (ORM 436.2 - 531.5). Ten sites were sampled in triplicate using Hester-Dendy samplers (H-D), deep Hester-Dendy samplers, multihabitat sweeps (MH), and kick nets. All sites and methods combined produced 167 separate taxa, with H-Ds collecting the highest number of taxa for an individual method with 107 and the MH collecting the lowest with 65. Each method produced taxa unique to a particular sampling method, with only 33 taxa common across all four methods. Although the MH method collected the fewest taxa, it produced the largest amount of unique taxa with 15. Preliminary results indicate that multiple collection methods are necessary for more representative macroinvertebrate surveys in the Ohio River. These resulting field methods will ultimately be used to develop a macroinvertebrate bioassessment protocol for the Ohio River.
DE: 1800 HYDROLOGY
DE: 1845 Limnology
SC: North American Benthological Society [NB]
MN: 2005 Joint Assembly