Application of the SCDHEC Multiple Habitat Sampling Protocol (MHSP) for Macroninvertebrates in SRS Streams

摘要

The MHSP is a SCDHEC bioassessment method that utilizes macroinvertebrate samples collected from natural substrates to evaluate the ecological health of South Carolina streams. It includes two metrics, the EPT (number of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera taxa) and the BI (a biotic index that reflects the relative pollution tolerances of individual taxa), each of which receives a score of 1 to 5 that is averaged to produce an overall bioclassification score ranging from 5=Excellent to 1=Poor. The MHSP score for many undisturbed, high quality streams on the SRS is only fair or poor. We suggest three possible reasons for the failure of high quality SRS streams to receive high MHSP scores: (1) the MHSP may not measure attributes of the macroinvertebrate community that accurately reflect the health of SRS streams, (2) the MHSP does not compensate for natural differences in the invertebrate fauna that are associated with differences in stream size, and (3) the scoring criteria used in the MHSP may not be appropriate for SRS streams.