Benthic Invertebrates - Cape Breton Highlands

What? Benthic macroinvertebrates are monitored in freshwater streams in Cape Breton Highlands National Park. When? Monitoring frequency occurs annually in the fall of the year before water levels get too seasonally high. How? Monitoring is carried out following the nationally recognized Canadian Aquatic Biomonitoring Network (CABIN) protocol developed by Environment Canada. A variety of data types are collected on a section of freshwater streams for assessing aquatic ecosystem health. Why? Benthic macroinvertebrates are good indicators of aquatic ecosystem health for a variety of reasons: they are sensitive to a variety of stressors; important in the nutrient cycling process; and may show early warning signs of disturbance in aquatic ecosystems. This monitoring program assesses and detects long-term changes in benthic macroinvertebrate species richness, abundance, and the relative proportion of sensitive benthic community taxa present/absent. Data collected on benthic macroinvertebrate communities also allows the park to determine a biological response to issues of pollution, water temperature changes, or hydrology changes.