Bioassessment Links

Florida and National Bioassessment Links

• Florida Sites
• EPA Sites
• National Technical Documents and Resources
• Professional Organizations

DEP Biological and Audit Report Search Page

Florida Sites

List of Labs for Taxonomic Analysis

Florida LAKEWATCH - Florida LAKEWATCH is a volunteer citizen lake monitoring program that facilitates "hands-on" public participation in the management of Florida lakes through monthly monitoring activities. Coordinated through the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences/Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, the program has been in existence since 1986. LAKEWATCH is one of the largest lake monitoring programs in the nation with over 1,800 trained participants monitoring 600+ lakes, in more than 40 counties.

Atlas of Florida Plants - The Atlas of Florida Plants is a joint effort by the Institute for Systematic Botany, the University of South Florida and the USF Water Institute to provide users with a comprehensive searchable database of plants in the state of Florida.

Surf Your Watershed - Florida has 54 watersheds - which one do you live in? Access an environmental profile of your watershed from the EPA. This site provides an online catalog of environmental links to air and water quality, land-use information and environmental action groups that can be located by geography.

Watershed Atlas - The Water Resources Atlas is designed to provide the public, scientists, professionals and planners with comprehensive and current water quality, hydrologic and ecological data, as well as information about recreational opportunities and a library of scientific and educational materials on water resource issues.

Water Management Districts

• Northwest Florida Water Management District
• South Florida Water Management District
• Southwest Florida Water Management District
• St Johns River Water Management District
• Suwannee River Water Management District

EPA Sites

EPA’s Bioassessment and Biocriteria Homepage

Biological Indicators of Watershed Health - EPA's website providing basic information on bioassessment with links to the technical documents below. This site presents the fundamentals of bioassessment, including why we use biological indicators to assesses water quality and watershed health, through a combination of linked text and photos. Maps illustrating trends are used to explain how we use biological data to track changes in water quality.

EPA Fact Sheets and Memos on the Biological Water Quality Criteria Program  - Produced by the EPA, these fact sheets provide a brief introduction to the concepts of bioassessment.

Biological Criteria: National Program Guidance for Surface Waters - A document from the EPA providing guidance for development and implementation of narrative biological criteria by states, as directed by priorities established in the Fiscal Year 1991 Agency Operating Guidance.

EPA's "Rapid Bioassessment Protocols For Use in Streams and Rivers" - A document produced by the EPA to provide states and local water quality monitoring agencies with a practical technical reference for conducting cost-effective biological assessments of lotic systems.

National Technical Documents and Resources

ITIS - Integrated Taxonomic Information Service - A partnership of U.S., Canadian and Mexican agencies, other organizations and taxonomic specialists cooperating on the development of an online, scientifically credible list of biological names focusing on the biota of North America. ITIS is also a participating member of Species 2000, an international project indexing the world's known species.

Stream Corridor Restoration: Principles, Practices and Processes - This document is the result of a cooperative effort among 15 federal agencies and partners to produce a common reference on stream corridor restoration in response to a growing national and international public interest in restoring stream corridors. It encapsulates the rapidly expanding body of knowledge related to stream corridors and their restoration while presenting the full range of possibilities facing restoration practitioners, including "no-action" or passive approaches, partial intervention for assisted recovery, and substantial intervention for managed recovery. (As this document is very large, ~700 pages, it is available as a pdf file, and requires a pdf viewer, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader to be viewed or printed. Acrobat Reader can be obtained free.

Methods for Characterizing Stream Habitat as Part of the National Water Quality Assessment Program - USGS Open File Report 93-408

Stream Visual Assessment Protocol - This document from the USDA presents an easy-to-use assessment protocol to evaluate the condition of aquatic ecosystems associated with streams. The protocol does not require expertise in aquatic biology or extensive training. Least-impacted reference sites are used to provide a standard of comparison.

Water Words Dictionary Index - A compilation of technical water, water quality, environmental and water-related terms produced by the Nevada Division of Water Resources, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Save Our Streams - A site developed by the Izaak Walton League of America. Provides a method to determine the water quality of a stream based on the collection and identification of stream-bottom macroinvertebrates. Includes an interactive key as well as information on why macroinvertebrates are useful in assessing water quality.

Know your Watershed - This site by CTIC serves as a watershed information clearinghouse, providing videos, games, FAQs and regional contact information.

Bureau of Land Management - National Aquatic Monitoring Center - Provides processing of aquatic invertebrate samples for a number of western states. This site includes their lab protocols as well as descriptions of ongoing projects and publications.

Xerces Society - Aquatic Monitoring Program - Provides technical assistance on bioassessment techniques and protocols, volunteer training in bioassessment protocols, maintains a database of aquatic macroinvertebrates found in northwestern states. 

Professional Organizations

Florida Association of Benthologists - FAB is an organization formed to share expertise and information on the use of aquatic community structures and processes (quantity and quality of the biota) to evaluate water quality conditions and ecosystem function. This site has links to FABs meeting minutes and newsletters, as well as notices of upcoming meetings.

Society for Freshwater Science - An international scientific organization whose purpose is to promote better understanding of the biotic communities of lake and stream bottoms and their role in aquatic ecosystems, this site has links to the society's journal and other technical publications.

Florida Lake Management Society (FLMS) - The mission of the Florida Lake Management Society is to promote protection, enhancement, conservation, restoration and management of Florida's aquatic resources; provide a forum for education and information exchange; and advocate environmentally sound and economically feasible lake and aquatic resources management for residents of Florida. 

North American Lake Management Society (NALMS) - NALMS is a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization aiming "to forge partnerships among citizens, scientists and professionals to foster the management and protection of lakes and reservoirs for today and tomorrow."

Florida Aquatic Plant Management Society (FAPMS) - The Florida Aquatic Plant Management Society was formed in 1976 and provides a forum for those interested in aquatic plant management to meet, discuss and exchange ideas and information. The website contains information about aquatic plant management and the FAPMS annual conference.