BENTHIC
MACRO INVERTEBRATES OFF THE SHORE OF SHELBURNE FARMS NEAR THE INN
A Little
Bit about What We Did:
(Objectives/Background)
BMI CREW! (From left to right-
Kimberly Taft, Ellyn Webb, Jessica Richland)
BMI's What Are
They?
BMI stands
for benthic macroinvertebrates (bethic=bottom, macro=large, invertebrate=
animals without
backbones), also known as Benthos. These aquatic
invertebrates live in
the bottom parts of waters, such as lakes and rivers.
BMI's, because of
their certain tolerance levels to pollution, are used in
order to generalize or
determine the general quality of the water. They can be
used to determine the
general health condition of the water because each of the
organisms has its own
tolerance level to pollution.
Objectives:
Diversity versus Density and pH levels, water
temperature,
conductivity:
An inventory of how many of one
type of organism are found in an
area, and how much diversity is found in one
area.
An inventory of the organisms in certain areas <><>
Tolerance levels to pollution and what certain BMI's
indicate
about the water quality
