Bellingen Riverwatch
Macro Muster 6 Data
What waterbugs did Bellingen Riverwatch citizen scientists find in our rivers and what do they mean?
Written by Nakia Belmer, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, NSW Government and Sam Daykin, OzGREEN.
What we did…
Bellingen Riverwatch volunteers and partners worked together to sample macroinvertebrates (waterbugs) at six sites across the Bellinger and Kalang catchments, very unique river systems on the mid-north coast of NSW.
Macro Muster 6 saw Macro Helpers, Macro Helpers-in-training and Macro Teachers-in-training come together, both to conduct an accurate count of waterbugs at six sites, but also to learn from the Macro teachers, further their knowledge and become familiar with the process for future musters.
What we found
Our Macro Muster 5 data tells us that these rivers are in very good health.
All the sites recorded SIGNALT scores in the very healthy range (above 4.9), which suggests good water quality persists, and a very healthy waterbug community occurs at all surveyed sites.
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The information collected from a Waterbug Blitz sample provides us with good data that can be used to provide a preliminary assessment of waterway health. The primary indicators that we use to assess waterway health using waterbug (macroinvertebrate) data are biodiversity (Biodiversity Score) and pollution sensitivity (SIGNAL Score) of the community.
The Biodiversity score, which is calculated from the number of different individual waterbug taxa collected at this site.
The method for identification of waterbugs through the Waterbug Blitz sampling and application is known as the Agreed Level Taxonomy, or ALT method (https://www.thewaterbug.net/ALT.html).
ALT uses features that are visible to the naked eye to identify macroinvertebrates. ALT identifications result in data sets of mixed taxonomic levels, some at genus or species, and others at higher levels.
SIGNAL is an acronym for Stream Invertebrate Grade Number Average Level and is a scoring system for waterbugs that helps interpret the raw data. It is based on the sensitivity or tolerance of different waterbugs to pollutants and habitat degradation. Each waterbug has its own grade from 1 (very tolerant) to 10 (very sensitive). The average of these individual waterbug grades is calculated to give each waterbug site a SIGNAL score which can infer the water and habitat quality and help to assess the health of a waterway. The calculation of this score can be weighted by the abundance of each waterbug taxa within a sample or can be unweighted, using only the grade of the taxa.
This method applied through the Waterbug Blitz is currently being tested to see if the ALT levels retain enough taxonomic information to be used with a re-calculated SIGNAL score, which is termed SIGNALT, and is the indicator of waterbug community sensitivity communicated in this report.
It is anticipated that the ALT method will provide a quick, simple approach to waterbug identification and analysis that is a practical alternative for citizen scientists who want to assess stream health. Though it should be noted that the application of this method is still being tested. As such the results communicated in this report should be considered a preliminary only and assessed in the context of the monthly water quality results and the ongoing monitoring that Bellingen Riverwatch hope to continue into the future.
To assist understanding of the SIGNALT results the score categories in the image below are provided.
EPT% is the percentage of EPT taxa (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera or Mayflies, Stoneflies and Caddisflies) found within each sample.
See sites and results on Bellingen Riverwatch Macro Map
Macro Muster 6 Data Infographic
We have created an infographic to communicate the data from Muster 6. See our library of free resources here.
How does this Muster data compare with other Musters?
B2
Cool Creek
See site location on Bellingen Riverwatch Macro Map.
B2’s Muster 6 results suggest good water quality and habitat continues to persist at this site.
Site B2 recorded a diverse waterbug community with a Taxa Richness of 23. The SIGNALT score of 6.39 is an increase than that of the 5 th Muster (5.67). The site also recorded a high abundance of known sensitive taxa indicating this site has a very healthy waterbug community.
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The SIGNALT score was 6.39 which is an increase from the 5thMacro Muster (5.67). These results suggest good water quality and habitats continue to persist and the site still has a healthy waterbug community present
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The site recorded a high abundance of known sensitive
The site recorded an EPT richness of 10, which indicates a high abundance of known sensitive taxa from the orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera.
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23 taxa in total
8 caddisfly taxa
2 mayfly taxa
1 stonefly taxa
3 dragonfly taxa
2 dragonfly taxa
5 beetle taxa
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Order: Ephemeroptera, Family(s): Leptophlebiidae and Baetidae
Order: Trichoptera, Family(s): Helicophidae and Calocidae and Hydrobiosidae
Order: Mayfly
Family: Baetidae
Image by Shane Ruming, DPE.
B3.1
Tysons Bridge
Site B3.1 recorded a diverse waterbug community with a taxa richness of 18
See site location on Bellingen Riverwatch Macro Map.
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Though the site recorded a decrease in taxa richness the site recorded a healthy SIGNALT score of 5.72 which is an increase from the 5th Bug Blitz (4.70).
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The site recorded a very high abundance of known sensitive taxa from the orders Ephemeroptera and Trichoptera and EPT richness score was 8. The site recorded fewer caddisfly taxa than recent surveys whilst still recording very sensitive taxa such as the stonefly from the family Eustheniidae (which has a SIGNALT grade of 10!).
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6 caddisfly taxa
2 mayfly taxa
2 dragonfly taxa
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Order: Ephemeroptera, Family: Baetidae and Leptophlebidae
Order: Trichoptera: Helicophidae and Calocidae and Leptoceridae
This is a slight decrease from the 5th Macro Muster. Though the site recorded a decrease in taxa richness the site recorded a healthy SIGNALT score of 5.72 which is an increase from the 5th Muster (4.70).
Order: Mayfly
Family: Leptophlebidae
Image by Shane Ruming, DPE
B4
Hobarts Bridge
See site location on Bellingen Riverwatch Macro Map.
The site recorded SIGNALT of 7.12, which is the highest score for all sites and all Macro Musters.
Site B4 recorded a diverse waterbug community with a taxa richness of 17 which is similar to most previous results at B4. These results suggest good water quality and habitats continue to persist at this site.
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The site recorded SIGNALT of 7.12, which is the highest score for all sites and all Macro Musters.
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The site recorded an EPT richness of 10, which indicates a high abundance of known sensitive taxa from the orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera
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8 caddisfly taxa
2 mayfly taxa
1 stonefly taxa
3 dragonfly taxa
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Order: Ephemeroptera, Family(s): Leptophlebiidae and Baetidae
Order: Trichoptera, Family(s): Helicophidae and Calocidae and Hydrobiosidae
Order: Caddisfly
Family: Helicophidae and Calocidae
Image by Shane Ruming, DPE
See site location on Bellingen Riverwatch Macro Map.
Tuckers Nob
NN1
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The SIGNALT score for this round was 5.49 which is still an increase from the first Macro Muster (5.4) in June 2021 and very similar to the 5th Water Bug Blitz (6.04).
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The site recorded a very high abundance of known sensitive taxa from the orders Ephemeroptera and Trichoptera which resulted in an EPT richness of 9. These results suggest a healthy waterbug community and good water quality and habitats persisting at this site.
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6 caddisfly taxa
3 mayfly taxa
3 beetle taxa
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Order: Coleoptera, Family: Ptilodactylidae and Genus: Byrrooryptus.
Order: Trichoptera, Family: Helicophidae and Calocidae
Order: Ephemeroptera, Family: Baetidae
The site also recorded a beetle larva from the family Ptilodactylidae and Genus Byrrooryptus. This is the first time this taxa has been collected at a Macro Muster. This individual has a SIGNALT sensitivity grade of 10 and is a wonderful addition to the taxa collected by the citizen scientists over the past 3 years.
Site NN1 recorded a diverse waterbug community with a Taxa Richness of 23 and a SIGNALT score of 5.49
Order: Mayfly
Family: Baetidae
Image by Shane Ruming, DPE
R1
Rosewood River
See site location on Bellingen Riverwatch Macro Map.
Site R1 recorded a Taxa Richness of 14 and a high SIGNALT score of 6.36. This site recorded the mayfly species Austremerella picta, a fantastic find as the species is rare. The beetle larva from the family Ptilodactylidae , previously unrecorded at Macro Musters was also collected at this site.
R1’s Muster 6 results indicate a very healthy waterbug community persists at this site
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The SIGNALT score has continued to increase since the first Macro Muster from 5.9 in June 2021 to 6.36.
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The site recorded a very high abundance of known sensitive taxa from the orders Ephemeroptera and Trichoptera which resulted in an EPT richness of 8. These results suggest a healthy waterbug community and good water quality and habitats persisting at this site
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4 caddisfly taxa
1 unrecorded taxa
4 mayfly taxa
1 new taxa
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Order: Ephemeroptera, Family: Leptophlebiidae, Family: Teloganodidae, species Austremerella picta
Order: Trichoptera, Family(s): Atriplectidae, Helicophidae and Calocidae
Order: Coleoptera, Family: Elmidae
Order: Mayfly
Family: Leptophlebiidae
Image by Shane Ruming, DPE
See site location on Bellingen Riverwatch Macro Map.
Kalang River
K1
Although the diversity of taxa collected at this site has decreased, the SIGNALT score increased to 5.56, which was higher than all previous Waterbug Blitz surveys at this site.
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Although the diversity of taxa collected at this site has decreased, the SIGNALT score increased to 5.56, which was higher than all previous Waterbug Blitz surveys at this site, with previous SIGNALT grades of 4.5, 5.27 and 5,34.
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Although no Plecoptera were recorded for this site during this event there were still individual taxa present from the sensitive taxa orders of Ephemeroptera and Trichoptera, resulting in an EPT richness of 6. These results suggest good water quality and habitats continue to persist at this site and a healthy waterbug community remains present.
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This includes
3 caddisfly taxa3 mayfly taxa
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Order: Ephemeroptera, Family(s): Leptophlebiidae
Order: Decopoda, Family Atyidae
Order: Trichoptera, Family(s): Helicophidae and Calocidae
site K1 recorded a decrease in taxa richness with only 9 taxa recorded. This is the lowest recorded at this site . The decrease in taxa richness may be due to a modest sampling effort. Despite this the SIGNALT score increased to 5.56, which was higher than all previous Macro Musters at this site,
Order: Mayfly
Family: Leptophlebiidae
Image by Shane Ruming, DPE
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Note - Our raw data is shared with with the NSW Government Saving our Species recovery program for the BRST and is additionally available at both the Waterwatch portal and the DPIE SEED portal.
Raw Data
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Amy Denshire
Co-CEO
amy@ozgreen.org.au
02 5615 8108
Bellingen Riverwatch Data Portal Partners
This data portal was delivered through the NSW Environment Protection Authority’s Flood Recovery Program for Water Quality Monitoring, in partnership with the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water and supported by the Riparian Stabilisation Package. The Riparian Stabilisation Package is co-funded by the Australian and NSW Governments under Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.
Connect with Us
Amy Denshire
Bellingen Riverwatch Program Manager
amy@ozgreen.org.au