Bioindicators

Question 1

These are living organisms that provide information about the health of an ecosystem

Answer 1

Biodindicators

Question 2

Biondicators exhibit responses to these

Answer 2

Stressors/pollutants

Question 3

Does sampling bioindicators or sampling water quality periodically give a better indication of long-term water quality?

Answer 3

Sampling bioindicators

Question 4

What is the assumption for using bioindicators?

Answer 4

If conditions are suitable for indicator species, the rest of the species and state of the watershed should be suitable

Question 5

What are 3 of 5 characteristics of biondicators?

Answer 5

1. Lower food chain placement; 2. Narrow tolerance to change; 3. Native species; 4. Restricted range; 5. Public image

Question 6

What are two examples of species that are known to be bioindicators?

Answer 6

Caddisflies and orangethroat darters

Question 7

What are three levels of biondicator assessment?

Answer 7

1. Single species; 2. Group of species; 3. Species and physical/chemical factors

Question 8

What are three characteristics of benthic macroinvertebrates?

Answer 8

1. Inhabit the benthic zone; 2. Large enough to be seen with naked eye; 3. Lack backbone

Question 9

What are four reasons why benthic macroinvertebrates are one of the most commonly sampled biota?

Answer 9

1. Indicate both aquatic and terrestrial habitat; 2. Each part of their lifecycle is spent in different habitats; 3. Lack of migration; 4. Integration of conditions over time at a specific site

Question 10

What are 3 of 5 advantages of sampling benthic macroinvertebrates?

Answer 10

1. Sensitive to point and nonpoint source pollution; 2. Short life cycles; 3. Diversity of species with range of responses; 4. Sampling methods are simple; 5. Occur in lower trophic levels

Question 11

What are three disadvantages to sampling benthic macroinvertebrates?

Answer 11

1. Not responsive to all pollution; 2. Abundance varies seasonally; 3. Require experience to identify

Question 12

What are three examples of highly sensitive macroinvertebrates?

Answer 12

Mayflies, stoneflies, caddisflies

Question 13

What are three examples of moderately sensitive macroinvertebrates?

Answer 13

Crayfish, dragonflies, alderflies

Question 14

What are three examples of tolerant macroinvertebrates?

Answer 14

Black flies, leeches, aquatic worms

Question 15

At what two times of year is macroinvertebrate sampling done?

Answer 15

Spring and fall

Question 16

What part of the stream is sampled for macroinvertebrates?

Answer 16

Riffle

Question 17

What kind of substrate is preferred for sampling macroinvertebrates?

Answer 17

Gravel

Question 18

How many samples per stream reach are used for sampling macroinvertebrates?

Answer 18

1

Question 19

What are three types of gear are used to sample macroinvertebrates?

Answer 19

Kicknet, D-net, surber sampler

Question 20

This type of sampling is done to allow macroinvertebrates to colonize samplers

Answer 20

Leave-in-field sampling

Question 21

What are two levels to use when analyzing fish?

Answer 21

Individual fish or fish populations

Question 22

What are four things to sample from individual fish?

Answer 22

1. Heavy metals in tissues; 2. Trace elements; 3. Altered physiology; 4. Altered behaviors

Question 23

What are five things to sample from fish populations?

Answer 23

1. Stratified locations; 2. Habitat requirements; 3. Disturbances; 4. Pollution tolerance; 5. Ecological issues

Question 24

What are seven advantages of fish as bioindicators?

Answer 24

1. Long-lived; 2. Occur in variety of habitats; 3. Extensively studied; 4. Extremely diverse; 5. Easily identified; 6. Toxicity trends; 7. Well-known/socially important

Question 25

What are three disadvantages of sampling fish as bioindicators?

Answer 25

1. Manpower; 2. Migratory/spawning behaviors; 3. Sampling bias

Question 26

Can fish assemblages be compared across multiple regions?

Answer 26

No

Question 27

What are four major ways of sampling fish?

Answer 27

Seining, electrofishing, gill netting, trap/hoop/fyke netting

Question 28

What are two advantages of seining for fish?

Answer 28

Inexpensive/easy maintenance and minimal impact on fish

Question 29

What are two disadvantages of seining for fish?

Answer 29

Less effective for larger fish and standardization is difficult

Question 30

What are three advantages of electrofishing?

Answer 30

Time efficient, effective in many habitats, easily standardized

Question 31

What are two disadvantages of electrofishing?

Answer 31

Selective bias for large fishes and more harmful to fish

Question 32

What is an advantage of gill netting?

Answer 32

Minimal impact on fish population

Question 33

What are two disadvantages of gill netting?

Answer 33

Less effective for larger fishes and bias towards fish shape

Question 34

What are two disadvantages of trap/hoop/fyke netting?

Answer 34

Bias towards cover-loving fish and near-shore fish and can also trap non-fish

Question 35

What are two important considerations for trap/hoop/fyke netting?

Answer 35

Mesh size and throat size

Question 36

What are two extreme sampling methods used to sample fish?

Answer 36

Chemical dispersion and draining

Question 37

Can two or more different sampling methods be compared directly?

Answer 37

No

Question 38

These are relatively large intact sites that are self-sustaining and have not been greatly influenced by human-induced disturbances

Answer 38

Reference sites

Question 39

Do reference sites have to be pristine?

Answer 39

No

Question 40

Reference sites are paired with these for studies

Answer 40

Impacted/study sites

Question 41

What are 5 characteristics to reference sites and study sites have to share?

Answer 41

1. Same chemical processes; 2. Same functions/nutrient cycling; 3. Same structure; 4. Same riparian area; 5. Same drainage

Question 42

Can indicators give insight into causation?

Answer 42

No

Question 43

What are five elements required for successful stream monitoring?

Answer 43

1. Control site; 2. Pre-human impact information; 3. Proper scale; 4. Replication; 5. Continued monitoring over time to develop trends