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

Unnamed Tributary to Volga Lake Outlet Fayette (HW#3)

Analysis Summary for Series #2013

Benthic Macroinvertebrate Index of Biotic Integrity (BMIBI)

Metric Name Value Score
MH Total Taxa 30 10
SH Total Taxa 17.33 10
MH EPT Taxa 14 10
SH EPT Taxa 8.33 10
MH Sensitive Taxa 9 10
SH Ephem % 34.04 4.35
SH EPT % 60.08 6.29
SH Chiron % 13.03 8.79
SH Scraper % 10.06 2.25
SH Top3Dom % 47.36 10
SH Dom FFG % 52.49 7.92
MHBI 3.88 10
*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 9/20/2016
Sampling Series Series #2013
Drainage Area (mi2) 0.79
Log(DA) -0.102372908709559
Calculation Last Updated 7/22/2025 3:31:24 PM
Sampling Gear Surb
BMIBI Score
83
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:

Paleozoic Plateau (Driftless Area)

This site is in the Paleozoic Plateau (Driftless Area) ecoregion.

Ecoregion Map
Max 87
75th Percentile 78
Median 70
25th Percentile 62
Min 52
This Session's Score 83
Total Reference Site Samples 55
Mean 70.55
Standard Deviation 9.41