PADEP Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Taxa

README

This website serves as a source and data dictionary for aquatic macroinvertebrates recognized by PADEP for inclusion in official statewide index calculations.

• See the Data Dictionary tab for additional information on the taxa table, including definitions for each column.
  
• See the Macroinvertebrate Taxa Table tab for an interactive table that can be downloaded as a .csv document

Data Dictionary

Data Dictionary for PADEP Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Taxa List
[2025-03-11|12:05:50] tibble PADEP Aquatic Macroinvertebrate TaxaRows 1,186 Columns 24
Table
UPDATES This table was updated on March 11, 2025.
Columns
ITIS_TSN  character Taxonomic serial number from the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)
ITIS_RANK  character Taxonomic rank of laboratory identification
DEP_LABORATORY_ID  character The organism as it was identified in the laboratory and entered on a bench sheet
DEP_ASSESSMENT_ID  character The organism as it is recognized by PADEP and used for index calculations. This may be different from DEP_LABORATORY_ID, as defined in Table 3 of Chapter 3.6 in the PADEP Monitoring Book (Brickner, 2020)
DEP_LAB_ID_TV  numeric DEP pollution tolerance value (PTV) for the organism identified in the laboratory, represented in DEP_LABORATORY_ID column. These PTVs are integer values that range from 0-10, with values closer to 0 representing relative sensitivity to pollution and values closer to 10 representing relative tolerance of pollution
DEP_ASSESS_ID_TV  numeric DEP pollution tolerance value (PTV) for the organism at the assessment level, represented in DEP_ASSESSMENT_ID column. These PTVs are integer values that range from 0-10, with values closer to 0 representing relative sensitivity to pollution and values closer to 10 representing relative tolerance of pollution
DEP_LAB_ID_FFG  character DEP functional feeding group (FFG) for the organism identified in the laboratory, represented in DEP_LABORATORY_ID column. Abbreviations indicate: collector-gatherer (CG), filter-collector (FC), piercer (PI), predator (PR), scraper (SC), shredder (SH), and unknown (UK).
DEP_ASSESS_ID_FFG  character DEP functional feeding group (FFG) for the organism at the assessment level, represented in DEP_ASSESSMENT_ID column. Abbreviations indicate: collector-gatherer (CG), filter-collector (FC), piercer (PI), predator (PR), scraper (SC), shredder (SH), and unknown (UK).
DEP_LAB_ID_BCG_WARM  numeric DEP biological condition gradient (BCG) value for the organism identified in the laboratory, represented in DEP_LABORATORY_ID column. BCG values are integers that range from 1-6 with the six attributes described as: (1) historically documented, sensitive, long-lived, or regionally endemic taxa; (2) sensitive-rare taxa; (3) sensitive-ubiquitous taxa; (4) taxa of intermediate tolerance; (5) tolerant taxa; and (6) non-native or intentionally introduced taxa (Davies and Jackson 2006, Gerritsen and Jessup 2007).
DEP_ASSESS_ID_BCG_WARM  numeric DEP biological condition gradient (BCG) value for the organism at the assessment level, represented in DEP_ASSESSMENT_ID column. BCG values are integers that range from 1-6 with the six attributes described as: (1) historically documented, sensitive, long-lived, or regionally endemic taxa; (2) sensitive-rare taxa; (3) sensitive-ubiquitous taxa; (4) taxa of intermediate tolerance; (5) tolerant taxa; and (6) non-native or intentionally introduced taxa (Davies and Jackson 2006, Gerritsen and Jessup 2007).
DEP_LAB_ID_BCG_COLD  numeric DEP biological condition gradient (BCG) value for the organism identified in the laboratory, represented in DEP_LABORATORY_ID column. BCG values are integers that range from 1-6 with the six attributes described as: (1) historically documented, sensitive, long-lived, or regionally endemic taxa; (2) sensitive-rare taxa; (3) sensitive-ubiquitous taxa; (4) taxa of intermediate tolerance; (5) tolerant taxa; and (6) non-native or intentionally introduced taxa (Davies and Jackson 2006, Gerritsen and Jessup 2007).
DEP_ASSESS_ID_BCG_COLD  numeric DEP biological condition gradient (BCG) value for the organism at the assessment level, represented in DEP_ASSESSMENT_ID column. BCG values are integers that range from 1-6 with the six attributes described as: (1) historically documented, sensitive, long-lived, or regionally endemic taxa; (2) sensitive-rare taxa; (3) sensitive-ubiquitous taxa; (4) taxa of intermediate tolerance; (5) tolerant taxa; and (6) non-native or intentionally introduced taxa (Davies and Jackson 2006, Gerritsen and Jessup 2007).
DEP_LAB_ID_ETV  numeric DEP eutrophication tolerance value (ETV) value for the organism identified in the laboratory, represented in DEP_LABORATORY_ID column. ETV values are integers that range from 1-10, with values closer to 1 representing relative sensitivity to eutrophication and values closer to 10 representing relative tolerance of eutrophication (McGarrell and Gocek 2023).
DEP_ASSESS_ID_ETV  numeric DEP eutrophication tolerance value (ETV) value for the organism at the assessment level, represented in DEP_ASSESSMENT_ID column. ETV values are integers that range from 1-10, with values closer to 1 representing relative sensitivity to eutrophication and values closer to 10 representing relative tolerance of eutrophication (McGarrell and Gocek 2023).
DEP_LAB_ID_ATV  numeric DEP acid tolerance value (ATV) value for the organism identified in the laboratory, represented in DEP_LABORATORY_ID column. ATV values are integers that range from 0-10, with values closer to 0 representing relative sensitivity to surface water acidification and values closer to 10 representing relative tolerance of surface water acidification (Shank 2023).
DEP_ASSESS_ID_ATV  numeric DEP acid tolerance value (ATV) value for the organism at the assessment level, represented in DEP_ASSESSMENT_ID column. ATV values are integers that range from 0-10, with values closer to 0 representing relative sensitivity to surface water acidification and values closer to 10 representing relative tolerance of surface water acidification (Shank 2023).
DEP_BUG_CODE  character DEP unique identifier for each taxon used for internal database metric calculations.
ITIS_PHYLUM  character The taxonomic classification of the organism at the phylum level
ITIS_CLASS  character The taxonomic classification of the organism at the class level
ITIS_SUBCLASS  character The taxonomic classification of the organism at the subclass level
ITIS_SUPERORDER  character The taxonomic classification of the organism at the superorder level
ITIS_ORDER  character The taxonomic classification of the organism at the order level
ITIS_FAMILY  character The taxonomic classification of the organism at the family level
ITIS_GENUS  character The taxonomic classification of the organism at the genus level
source
REFERENCES Brickner, M. 2020. Macroinvertebrate laboratory subsampling and identification protocol. Chapter 3.6, pages 32-41 in J. Lookenebill and R. Whiteash (editors). Water Quality Monitoring Protocols for Streams and Rivers. Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dep/programs-and-services/water/clean-water/water-quality/data-collection-protocols.html Davies, S.P. and S.K. Jackson. 2006. The biological condition gradient: a descriptive model for interpreting change in aquatic ecosystems. Ecological Applications 16(4):1251-1266. Gerritsen, J. and B. Jessup. 2007. Identification of the biological condition gradient for freestone (non-calcareous) streams of Pennsylvania. Prepared for United States Environmental Protection Agency and Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Tetra Tech, Inc. Owings Mills, Maryland. 53 pp. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). https://itis.gov/ McGarrell, C.A. and G.M. Gocek. 2023. Eutrophication cause method technical report. Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dep/programs-and-services/water/clean-water/water-quality/technical-documentation.html Shank, M.K. 2023. Wadeable freestone acidification assessment method technical report. Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dep/programs-and-services/water/clean-water/water-quality/technical-documentation.html
2025-03-11 12:05:50 EDT < 1 s 2025-03-11 12:05:50 EDT

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Macroinvertebrate Taxa Table