Biodiversity Field References

Biological monitoring is important because macroinvertebrates are sensitive indicators of an ecosystem's health. They provide a measure of the effect of pollutants rather than just indicate the presence of certain chemicals. Monitors will measure chemical, physical and biological parameters to determine the vigor of a body of water.

Collecting a combination of benthic macroinvertebrates and invertebrates offers more than the chemical snapshot obtained from traditional water quality testing. They are good indicators of water quality because they can:

1. Reveal general water quality over an extended period of time, since they are less mobile then vertebrates.
2. Illustrate the impact of nutrient or organic enrichment and toxic contamination; and
3. Reflect differences in physical habitat conditions.