Rapid Bioassessment Procedures for Rivers

In situ biological assessment of aquatic habitats will soon be required of all states by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Under a project initially funded by the Idaho Division of Environmental Quality, we are developing and testing rapid bioassessment protocols for streams and rivers in Idaho. A habitat analysis component also is included. A variety of factors used to assess biological integrity are being examined for their applicability to specific conditions in Idaho. The research also will allow us to establish an initial reference database for a spectrum of `least disturbed' riverine habitats and to determine if reference streams differ significantly among different ecoregions in the state. Later, with funding from the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, we have begun to focus on the Upper Snake River and Lost RIvers and to develop functional, in addition to structural, measures of stream ecosystem health.

1996. Bringing biology back into water quality assessments. Pages 289-324, in: Committee on Inland Aquatic Ecosystems, Water Science and Technology Board, Commission on Geosciences, Environment and Resources. Freshwater ecosystems: revitalizing educational programs in limnology. National Research Council (U. S.)

1997. Fish assemblages and environmental correlates in least-disturbed streams of the Upper Snake River Basin. Transactions American Fisheries Society 126:200-216. (T. R. Maret, C. T. Robinson and G. W. Minshall)

1998. Regional assessment of wadable streams in Idaho, USA. Great Basin Naturalist 58:54-65. (C. T. Robinson and G. W. Minshall)

1998. Macroinvertebrate community structure in relation to measures of lotic habitat heterogeneity. Arch. Hydrobiol. 141:129-151. (G. W. Minshall and C. T. Robinson) 

2000. Stream insects as bioindicators of fine sediment.  In :   Proceedings Watershed 2000, Water Environment Federation Specialty Conference, Vancouver, B. C. (C. B. Relyea, G. W. Minshall, and R. J. Danehy).

2001. Development of macroinvertebrate-based index for bioassessment of Idaho rivers. Environmental Management 27:627-636. (T. V. Royer, C. T. Robinson, and G. W. Minshall).