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Taking the Pulse of a Stream

Written by: Chelsea Gray

How do you tell the health of a river? This is a question that scientist all over the world struggle to answer. A common method for determining stream health is the Stream Bioassessment.

Damselfly
Damselflies lay their eggs in the water. Damselfly nymphs live under the water and are an example of the type of benthic macro-invertebrate found in Virginia streams.

What is a “Stream Bioassment”?

Because you can’t ask a stream how it’s feeling, we use indirect measures of health for an ecosystem. One way we do this for a stream is by identifying what types of organisms live there. In particular, we look at benthic macro-invertebrates, or the bugs that live in the stream bed.

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What’s at the Bottom of the Potomac River?

Laura Birsa pulls the ponar onto the boat
Laura Birsa pulls the ponar onto the boat

Written by: Chelsea Gray

Each year, researchers and graduate students from PEREC gather data on Gunston Cove, located just downriver from the Norman M. Cole Jr. Pollution Control Plant. This study has been used to determine the health of the Potomac River for over three decades.

How is a river’s health determined?