Rapid Bioassessment Methodology for Rivers and Streams
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GUIDELINE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT RAPID BIOASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY FOR RIVERS AND STREAMS GUIDELINE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT RAPID BIOASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY FOR RIVERS AND STREAMS EPA Victoria 40 City Road, Southbank Victoria 3006 AUSTRALIA October 2003 Publication 604.1 ISBN 0 7306 7637 4 © EPA Victoria, 2003 Acknowledgments: Rapid Bioassessment Methodology for Rivers and Streams represents the culmination of many years of method development and refinement under the National River Health Program and by EPA Victoria. The delivery of this updated edition of the Guideline was enabled by funding from the joint Commonwealth and State partnership for the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality. EPA Victoria gratefully acknowledges the support of all contributors past and present. FOREWORD As Victorians, we recognise the importance of maintaining or improving the quality of our rivers and streams, protecting them so that they sustain us, our way of living, and our future. This task is too big for any one organisation and is increasingly being entrusted to a broader range of partners across the community. One challenge partners face is measuring the effectiveness of the environmental and resource management decisions we make on environmental condition. Over the past decade, combined State and national efforts have led to the development and implementation of rapid bioassessment for rivers and streams. This approach, which examines the response of biota to environmental disturbances, is more effective than the traditional approach of taking water quality ‘snap-shots’ in time because it reflects the net effect of disturbances over the previous weeks, months or years. As a result, rapid bioassessment of macroinvertebrate communities, considered to be currently the best available general indicator, has become a key tool in Victoria for assessing the environmental condition of rivers and streams. This guideline provides the necessary background and comprehensive procedures for the use of the rapid bioassessment method and recommended interpretive tools in assessing the environmental condition of rivers and streams in Victoria. It updates and replaces the Rapid Bioassessment of Victorian Streams (EPA Victoria, 1998, Publication 604). The guideline must be followed wherever rapid bioassessment is undertaken for purposes required by the Environment Protection Act 1970 including works approvals, licence monitoring and assessment against State environment protection policy environmental quality objectives. The guideline should also be used where rapid bioassessment is required under various State and national strategies, including the Victorian River Health Strategy, the Index of Stream Condition, the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality, and National State of Environment reporting. MICK BOURKE CHAIRMAN TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD............................................................................................................................................................I 1. INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................................................1 1.1 PURPOSE .................................................................................................................................................1 1.2 WHAT IS RAPID BIOASSESSMENT? ..................................................................................................................1 1.3 APPLICATION OF THE GUIDELINE..................................................................................................................... 2 2. GETTING STARTED......................................................................................................................................4 2.1 FIELD SAFETY.............................................................................................................................................4 2.2 PREPARING FOR A SITE VISIT ..........................................................................................................................4 2.3 ORDERING OF TASKS ...................................................................................................................................5 3. BIOLOGICAL SAMPLING..............................................................................................................................7 3.1 KICK SAMPLE (RIFFLE HABITAT) ......................................................................................................................7 3.2 SWEEP SAMPLE (EDGE HABITAT) ................................................................................................................... 9 3.3 LIVE SORTING .......................................................................................................................................... 11 4. HABITAT ASSESSMENT AND WATER QUALITY SAMPLING ........................................................................... 15 4.1 SITE LOCATION INFORMATION ...................................................................................................................... 15 4.2 PHYSICAL SITE CHARACTERISTICS.................................................................................................................. 17 4.3 WATER QUALITY MEASUREMENTS .................................................................................................................18 4.4 HABITAT DESCRIPTIONS............................................................................................................................. 20 4.5 SITE OBSERVATIONS................................................................................................................................. 28 4.6 RIPARIAN CHARACTERISTICS ........................................................................................................................32 5. LABORATORY PROCESSING OF INVERTEBRATE SAMPLES...........................................................................35 5.1 SORTING AND IDENTIFYING INVERTEBRATES......................................................................................................35 5.2 CREATING A VOUCHER COLLECTION ...............................................................................................................37 6. PHYSICAL PREDICTOR VARIABLES.............................................................................................................39 7. ASSESSING THE CONDITION OF AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS............................................................................42 7.1 USING THE BIOLOGICAL INDICES ...................................................................................................................42 7.2 TAXONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS .....................................................................................................................43 7.3 NUMBER OF FAMILIES ................................................................................................................................44 7.4 THE SIGNAL BIOTIC INDEX .........................................................................................................................44 7.5 THE EPT BIOTIC INDEX ...............................................................................................................................44 7.6 AUSRIVAS............................................................................................................................................45 7.7 KEY INVERTEBRATE FAMILIES....................................................................................................................... 46 8. QUALITY ASSURANCE SYSTEMS .............................................................................................................. 48 8.1 STAFF COMPETENCE ................................................................................................................................. 48 8.2 FIELD PROCEDURES .................................................................................................................................. 49 8.3 LABORATORY PROCESSING OF INVERTEBRATE SAMPLES.......................................................................................50 8.4 CALCULATING THE BIOLOGICAL INDICES .......................................................................................................... 51 9. GLOSSARY...............................................................................................................................................52 10. REFERENCES............................................................................................................................................57 APPENDIX 1: FIELD EQUIPMENT CHECKLIST..........................................................................................................59 APPENDIX 2: EXAMPLE OF A SITE LOCATION INFORMATION SHEET....................................................................... 60 APPENDIX 3: FIELD SAMPLING AND HABITAT ASSESSMENT SHEETS .................................................................... 62 APPENDIX 4: PARTICLE SIZE DIAGRAM ................................................................................................................ 68 APPENDIX 5: PERCENTAGE SHADING DIAGRAMS................................................................................................. 69 APPENDIX 6: RECOMMENDED TAXONOMIC IDENTIFICATION KEYS.........................................................................70 TAXONOMY REFERENCE