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Puget Sound Stream Benthos

Analyzing Stream Health

This site analyzes benthic macro­invertebrate community structure to determine the ecological health of streams.  Participating agencies use this site to manage, analyze and share data from their ongoing stream monitoring programs.

Picture of Stone FlyBenthic macro­invertebrates, also known as stream bugs, are animals that can be seen with the naked eye, do not have backbones and live in the stream benthos—in or near the streambed.  They include insects, crustaceans, worms, snails, clams, etc.

Benthic macro­invertebrates are monitored because they are good indicators of the biological health of stream systems and play a crucial role in the stream ecosystem.

Plotting Biotic Integrity

Symbol for Excellent score   Symbol for Good score   Symbol for Fair score   Symbol for Poor score   Symbol for Very Poor score
Excellent to Very Poor 		Click on biotic health markers for score details.
Click here to customize chart.

The BIBI Scoring System

We use the Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity (BIBI) scoring system to determine stream health. Since the BIBI is a standardized scoring system, it can be used to compare and rank the health of different streams.

BIBI has several variants, and we will support many of them over time.  Currently, we are using Puget Sound Lowlands BIBI. This site allows you to filter the scores by a variety of parameters and then
Improving Biological Monitoring Tools in the Puget Sound Region

We are currently working to enhance benthic macroinvertebrate monitoring tools for the Puget Sound region. For more information and to view documents and other products please go to the EPA grant project page.