EcoSpark works with communities and with schools, providing them
with the knowledge and tools to monitor their environment and
take action for positive environmental change.
How to Monitor Your Stream
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See the Stream Study Field Manual:
By looking at the bugs in streams, rivers, ponds, and lakes we can determine the health of that water source. Specifically we can look at the Benthic-Macro Invertebrates (BMIs) as indicators:
- Benthic = Bottom-Dwelling
- Macro = Visible to the Naked Eye
- Invertebrate = Without a Backbone
BMIs are great indicators of the health of a stream. If we examine what types of bugs and how many of each kind are present in the water we can determine the health of the stream. These little bugs are gauges of the health of the stream for several reasons:
- They do not roam very far so we can use them as indicators of the health of a particular point in the water body (ie. In the stream, river, or lake)
- Different bugs have different tolerances to water contamination so the types that are present are indicative to the quality of the water
- There are lots of bugs!
- They are easy to catch (and it's cheap)
- They can indicate both long and short term effects to water quality
Bio-Monitoring essentially means counting the bugs in the water to determine the water quality, but there are specific protocols to collecting the bugs which we need to follow to make the study accurate.
Click here to learn about EcoSpark's bio-monitoring protocols.
With financial support provided by:
The Chawkers
Foundation
Foundation
