Intra- and Inter-Watershed Variability in Benthic Macroinvertebrate Community Diversity, Taxa Richness, and Biotic Integrity: Citizen Scientist Sampling Within a Minnesota USA Region Dominated by Agriculture

Abstract

Volunteer citizen scientists collected benthic macroinvertebrate samples from 35 streams throughout multiple watersheds in southeastern Minnesota, USA, during the period 1999-2013 to assess community diversity, taxa richness, and biotic integrity as indicators of water quality and general habitat conditions. In total, 452 invertebrate samples containing >46,000 organisms were collected, processed, and analyzed. Only 45% of the citizen scientists completed their 5-year sampling commitment. However, their samples generally demonstrated significant differences in total taxa richness, Ephemeroptera-Plecoptera-Trichoptera (EPT) taxa richness, Simpson and Shannon diversities, and a regional benthic index of biotic integrity (BIBI) within and/or among the watersheds examined. Streams in the two larger watersheds averaged significantly higher taxa richness and BIBI scores than those in smaller watersheds. Overall, streams in this region exhibited mostly poor or very poor biotic integrity based on their macroinvertebrate communities, indicating continued impacts from environmental stressors within these agricultural watersheds.

Keywords

Benthic macroinvertebrates / Taxa richness / Diversity / Biotic integrity / Citizen scientists

Acknowledgments

Thank you to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources-Fisheries for providing sampling and sorting equipment for citizen scientists. Larry Gates was the driving force behind this project and Bill Stark donated many hours to train and supervise volunteers and coordinate sample processing. This project could not have been accomplished without the enthusiasm and support of many citizen science volunteers. Russell Zwiers created the study area base map.

Ethics Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

Data on which this paper is based can be obtained from the author upon reasonable request.

Funding

This research received no external funding.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The author declares that he has no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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