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

Unnamed Tributary to Yellow River Castalia (YeRi2)

Analysis Summary for Series #2614

Benthic Macroinvertebrate Index of Biotic Integrity (BMIBI)

Metric Name Value Score
MH Total Taxa 42 10
SH Total Taxa 14.67 10
MH EPT Taxa 12 10
SH EPT Taxa 9.33 10
MH Sensitive Taxa 3 5.96
SH Ephem % 10.79 1.38
SH EPT % 76.02 7.96
SH Chiron % 3.72 9.73
SH Scraper % 2.36 0.53
SH Top3Dom % 63.51 10
SH Dom FFG % 78.74 3.54
MHBI 4.76 8.3
*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 9/27/2022
Sampling Series Series #2614
Drainage Area (mi2) 3.681
Log(DA) 0.565965817446667
Calculation Last Updated 7/22/2025 3:34:43 PM
Sampling Gear Hess
BMIBI Score
73
Warm Water
Good

BMIBI Score Explained

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

Sites that score between 56 - 75 are considered good. A slight reduction in number (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera) of taxa; however, good numbers of taxa are present, including several sensitive species, EPT taxa are fairly diverse and dominate the community. The most sensitive taxa and some habitat specialists may not be present and/or are reduced in abundance. The community is balanced, with no taxon excessively dominating in abundance. One functional feeding group, often collector filterers or collector gatherers, may be somewhat dominant.

This location has been classified as a survey site. Survey sites are compared to reference sites within the same ecoregion. A reference site represents natural stream qualities that are least disturbed by human activities within the watershed. Reference sites are grouped by ecoregion to establish a benchmark against which these survey streams are compared.

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 73
Total Reference Site Samples 55
Mean 70.55
Standard Deviation 9.41