THE XERCES SOCIETY FOR INVERTEBRATE CONSERVATION

Aquatic Invertebrates in Pacific Northwest Freshwater Wetlands
An Identification Guide and Educational Resource

If you are sampling macroinvertebrates in a wetland, you may also want to sample the water chemistry. Monitoring water chemistry may enable you to identify specific pollutants, and it may help you determine sources of pollution. For example, high concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus could indicate significant fertilizer runoff from a nearby farm. Some chemical parameters you may want to assess include: pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, nitrogen, phosphorus, and chloride. You may also want to test for levels of a specific pesticide, if you suspect it may be influencing the biota in your wetland. With the right equipment, baseline data on pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, temperature and turbidity can easily be obtained in the field.

Measuring total nitrogen, phosophorus and chloride generally involves sending water samples to a lab for analysis, and may be more costly. There are widely available protocols for sampling the water chemistry of streams, including the Water Quality Monitoring Guidebook, which is part of the Oregon plan for Salmon and Watersheds. Many protocols for streams can be adapted for use in wetlands.