NEW ZEALAND AQUATIC INSECT WATER QUALITY TOLERANCES


Macroinvertebrate Community Index (MCI) values.

This system was developed for our waterways by New Zealand freshwater Biologist John Stark based on the principles of the British National Water Council's Biological Monitoring Working Party's (BMWP) index for British rivers.

Note: Designed for and from stony riffle communities, it is not applicable to other communities such as those naturally found in slow-flowing, muddy habitats.

 

Types of invertebrates

Scientific name

Score

Worms

Mainly Tubifex

1

Ostracods

Ostracoda

1

Midge larvae

Chironomidae

2

Flatworms, leeches

Platyhelminthes, Hirudinea

3

Snails  (pointed end)

Physa and others

3

Small bivalves

Pisidium etc.

3

Axehead caddis larvae

Oxyethira albiceps

3

Snails (rounded end)

Potamopyrgus

4

Amphipods and water fleas

Amphipoda and Cladocera

5

Cranefly larvae

Tipulidae

5

Beetle larvae and adults

Coleoptera

6

Caddisfly larvae

Most Trichoptera

6

Limpet-like molluscs

Latia sp.

7

Smooth-cased caddisflies

Olinga feredayi

9

Mayflies

Ephemeroptera

9

Spiral-cased caddisfly

Helicopsyche sp.

10

Stoneflies

Plecoptera

10

Source: Boothroyd, I. and J. Stark. 2000.

 


REFERENCES AND RECOMMENDED READINGS

BMWP 1978: Final report: assessment and presentation of the biological quality of rivers in Great Britain. Unpublished report, Biological Monitoring Working Party, Department of the Environment. 37p.

Boothroyd, I. and J. Stark. 2000. Use of invertebrates in monitoring. Pages 344-373 in Collier, K. J. and M. J. Winterbourn (editors). New Zealand stream invertebrates: ecology and implications for management. New Zealand Limnological Society, Hamilton.

Stark, J.D. 1985: A macroinvertebrate index of water quality for stony streams. Water and Soil Miscellaneous Publication 87. 53p.

Stark, J.D. 1993: Performance of the Macroinvertebrate Community Index: effects of sampling method, sampling replication, water depth, current velocity, and substratum on index values. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 27: 463-478.

Stark, J.D. 1998: Biotic indices: their role in water management in N. Z. In, The Use of Macroinvertebrates in Water Management: Recommendations of the New Zealand Macroinvertebrate Working Group. Ministry for the Environment.

Stark, J.D. 1998: SQMCI: a biotic index for freshwater macroinvertebrate coded-abundance data. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 32: 55-66.