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Stream Drift as an Indication of Water Quality
Author(s) -
Larimore R. Weldon
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1974)103<507:sdaaio>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - benthos , benthic zone , environmental science , water quality , diel vertical migration , benthic habitat , abundance (ecology) , habitat , oceanography , ecology , hydrology (agriculture) , biology , geology , geotechnical engineering
Stream drift and benthos were collected from five stream locations having different levels of domestic and industrial pollution. The drift organisms from 100 m 3 of water during the diel period of peak drifting was compared with the benthos from 1 m 2 of stream bottom. Numbers and weights of both drift and benthos followed similar quantitative relations with water quality, generally increasing with water degradation. The relative abundance of benthos greatly exceeded that of the drift at the most polluted station where tubificids, which infrequently drift, were abundant. A greater variety of organisms occurred in the drift than in the benthos. Drifting organisms came from a wider spectrum of habitats and were collected with less effort than benthic organisms but did not always include certain benthic forms that seldom leave the stream bottom.