Water Quality and

Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Diversity

Aquatic Macroinvertebrates

Aquatic Macroinvertebrates

• Insects, worms, snails, crayfish, other arthropods

• Live in all types of water habitats

• Most have gills for absorbing oxygen

• Cannot escape pollution events

• Certain species are more or less tolerant of pollution

Biomonitoring

• Stream biomonitoring is the study of the biological organisms present in a stream. 

• Based on what organisms are present, you can get an idea of what the water quality is like.– Species dependent – depends on number of

species of different sensitivities to pollution

Watershed

• land area draining into one water body

Bath Nature Preserve

Bath Creek

Lots of sunlight

Abundant plant growth

Warmer water

Mud bottom

Slow water flow

North Fork of Yellow Creek

Shaded

Cooler water

Few aquatic plants

Fast flowing water

Rocky bottom

Did you know???• Photosynthesis – happens during the day,

and only in plants

• Cellular Respiration – happens all the time, in ALL living things (including green plants!)

• In streams with lots of plants, the amount of oxygen increases during the day, but may drop very low at night. This means some organisms may not be able to survive in the river

Photosynthesis

6CO2 + 6H2O + sunlight → C6H12O6 + 6O2

Carbon dioxide + water + sun → organic matter + oxygen

Cellular Respiration C6H12O6 + 6O2 → 6CO2 + 6H2O + energyGlucose + oxygen → carbon dioxide + water + energy

Which stream would have more dissolved oxygen?

Bath Creek Yellow Creek

Which is Bath Creek?