The Long Term Resource Monitoring Program

A component of the Upper Mississippi River Restoration - Environmental Management Program

Macroinvertebrates

Macroinvertebrates are the small animals that live in the river bottom or on plants and logs in the water. These organisms are important food sources for many fish, shorebirds, and ducks. Because they live on the bottom, they can be good indicators of healthy conditions in river sediments.

Standardized monitoring for macroinvertebrates ended in 2004. The objective was to track status and trends of selected soft substrate species with a stratified random sampling design.

Component specialist: Jennifer Sauer