Summarize and Interpret Your Benthic Macroinvertebrate Data

After performing identification according to New Mexico Watershed Watch Order key and counting the numbers of individuals in each major group, perform multiple sweeps over the trays to ensure a representative sample has been collected. Have you students determine whether major invertebrates are from Group One Taxa- Pollution sensitive, Group Two Taxa-Somewhat Pollution tolerant, or Group Three Taxa- Pollution tolerant. Compare the numbers of individuals and percentages within each group to determine what is the most dominant group represented at the site. This will give you a rough idea as to the quality of the water. Calculate Water Quality Value According to Watershed Watch group tolerance index score.