Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Sampling Methods for Non-regulatory Programs

Watch a 19-minute conference presentation from the Georgia Water Resources Conference exploring cost-effective water quality assessment methods using aquatic macroinvertebrates. Learn about a study conducted in Great Smoky Mountains National Park that compared six different sampling techniques (kicknet, Dnet, rockwash, sand, leafpack, and visual samples) across nine wadeable mountain streams. Discover how researchers analyzed EPT taxa using metrics like richness, abundance, Shannon diversity, evenness, dominance, and effort ratio to determine which combination of sampling methods could provide reliable data while reducing resource requirements. Understand how combinations like kicknet-visual or rock wash-Dnet-visual produced comparable diversity metrics to the full protocol while requiring less time and effort, making them viable options for non-regulatory water quality monitoring programs seeking to optimize their assessment processes.