Iowa DNR
BioNet
River & Stream Biological Monitoring
Fish and Benthic Macroinvertebrate Surveys
Physical Habitat Assessments

Unnamed Tributary to Little Turkey River St. Lucas (45)

Analysis Summary for Series #1421

Benthic Macroinvertebrate Index of Biotic Integrity (BMIBI)

Metric Name Value Score
MH Total Taxa 31 10
SH Total Taxa 15.33 10
MH EPT Taxa 12 9.21
SH EPT Taxa 8 10
MH Sensitive Taxa 6 10
SH Ephem % 28.09 3.59
SH EPT % 38.85 4.07
SH Chiron % 7.29 9.37
SH Scraper % 29.42 6.58
SH Top3Dom % 56.9 10
SH Dom FFG % 56.32 7.28
MHBI 4.62 8.81
*Mouse-over metric for full name
**Final IBI is sum of scores multiplied by 0.8333

Analysis Factors

Factor Value
BMIBI Type Warm Water
Sample Date 9/19/2012
Sampling Series Series #1421
Drainage Area (mi2) 5.111
Log(DA) 0.708505880955237
Calculation Last Updated 7/22/2025 3:39:29 PM
Sampling Gear Hess
BMIBI Score
82
Warm Water
Excellent

BMIBI Score Explained

This site was analyzed using the BMIBI-Warm Water assessment methodology.

Sites that score between 76 - 100 are considered excellent. High numbers of taxa present, including sensitive species, EPT taxa are diverse and dominate the community in terms of abundance; habitat and trophic specialists (e.g., Scraper organisms) are present in good numbers, all of the major functional feeding groups (FFG) are represented, with no particular FFG that is excessively dominant. The community has good balance in terms of the abundance of organisms in each taxon.

This location has been classified as a Candidate Reference Site. Further study is required to determine if this site represents natural stream qualities that are least disturbed by human activities within the watershed.

EcoRegion Comparison

Scores for a sampling session are compared against reference sites within the same ecoregion:

Iowan Surface

This site is in the Iowan Surface ecoregion.

Ecoregion Map
Max 91
75th Percentile 75
Median 66
25th Percentile 57
Min 23
This Session's Score 82
Total Reference Site Samples 164
Mean 65.12
Standard Deviation 12.32