San Gabriel River Regional Monitoring Program
  1. Stream Condition
  2. Biotic Condition
  3. SCaPE
  4. Physical Habitat Condition
  5. Water Quality
  6. Summary of Current Findings
Biotic Condition
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    References

  1. Mazor, R.D., A. Rehn, P. R. Ode, M. Engeln, K. Schiff, E. Stein, D. Gillett, D. Herbst, C.P. Hawkins. 2016. Bioassessment in complex environments: designing an index for consistent meaning in different settings. Freshwater Science, before publication.
  2. Rehn, A.C.,R.D. Mazor, P.R. Ode, 2015. The California Stream Condition Indices (CSCI): A New Statewide Biological Scoring Tool for Assessing the Health of Freshwater Streams. SWAMP Technical Memorandum. SWAMP-TM-2015-0002.
  3. Ode, P.R., A.E. Fetscher, L.B. Busse. 2016. Standard operating procedures for the collection of field data for bioassessments for California wadeable streams: benthic macroinvertebrates, algae, and physical habitat. California State Water Resources Control Board Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program (SWAMP) Bioassessment SOP 001.
  4. Theroux, S. Mazor, R.D. Beck, M. Ode, P.R., Stein, E.D. Sutula, M. 2020. Predictive biological indices for algae populations in diverse stream environments. Ecological Indicators. 119.

The overall condition of streams in the San Gabriel River Watershed has been assessed by collecting benthic macroinvertebrates (BMIs) and attached algae during dry weather conditions in the spring and summer at sites throughout the upper and lower watershed since 2008. BMI communities provide an integrated view of stream water quality over time since their juvenile forms spend most of their lives living on the stream bottom or in the water column. The attached algae community includes both diatoms and soft algae whose populations change rapidly in response to changes in water quality. The biotic condition for BMI populations at each site was determined using the California Stream Condition Index (CSCI) and for attached algae the Algae Stream Condition Index (ASCI).See References on the left panel.

The CSCI and ASCI are statewide biological scoring tool that translates complex data about benthic macroinvertebrates (BMIs) and algae found living in a stream into an overall measure of stream health.

This Biotic Condition link will allow you to explore the biological condition of each region of the San Gabriel watershed by viewing graphs that show the condition category by watershed region for the BMI (CSCI) and algae (ASCI) indices.


Stream Classification and Prioritization Evaluator (SCaPE)

In 2018 a statewide landscape model was developed by the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP) that predicted the ranges of likely scores for the macroinvertebrate-based bioassessment index (CSCI) within landscape constraints to prioritize management actions. The model provides a context for what is likely to be observed at a given site independent of an actual bioassessment score. With this approach, sites can be described as over- or under-scoring relative to an expectation that is typical for the observed level of landscape alteration. Go to SCaPE to find more information.