BAMBI

BAMBI is a network of scientists, watershed managers, regulators and community members interested in using biological communities as indicators of stream health in the San Francisco Bay Area. This is a working webpage for the exchange of current information, focused on benthic macroinvertebrates (BMIs). For general background on bioassessment, see links below.

Bioassessment Resources and Links

Previous meeting archive:

• 2007 Agenda
• 2006 Agenda
• 2005 Agenda and directions Draft
  IBI Workplan
• 2004 Agenda and directions
  Workplan proposal
  Management Questions (survey for participants)

February 2003 meeting agenda and meeting summary

2003 Issue papers based on key topics from 2002 discussion:

• Standardizing protocols (note: also see later revisions to CSBP at link below)   
• Quality Assurance/QC
• Identifying reference conditions for Bay Area streams
• Physical habitat assessment
• Data management and sharing

State and National bioassessment resources

CA Aquatic Bioassessment Workgroup (parent/model for BAMBI)

CDFG Aquatic Bioassessment Lab (California protocols, taxonomic information)

Clean Water Team (volunteer monitoring resources from State Water Resources Control Board, including Streamside Biosurvey)

SLSI (workshops and manual for citizen monitors version of CSBP)

USEPA bioassessment and biocriteria pages (includes guidance for other taxonomic groups or waterbody types)

New Zealand Mud Snail - Bay Area alert

The New Zealand mud snail (NZMS, Potamopyrgus antipodarum) is a small hydrobiid snail that is spreading rapidly in fresh and brackish waterbodies in many western states. Just one snail can colonize a stream; within a few years they can reach high densities and displace much of the native macroinvertebrate community, seriously impacting aquatic food webs and habitat.

Several Bay Area locations have reported NZMS, most recently in 2007 from eastern Contra Costa County and in Niles Canyon and lower Alameda Creek.

NZMS can survive on damp wading gear or equipment and hitchhike to new locations. There is no effective way to remove established populations so preventing the spread is important for anglers, researchers and others who regularly enter creeks.

• Know how to recognize NZMS
• Consider potential infestation in planning fieldwork
• Take appropriate precautions in cleaning or decontaminating gear
• Report new sites to CDFG and Montana State - see links below

Links:

Identification and Decontamination Brochure by Oregon State U. (high and low resolution PDFs)

Alameda Creek flyer (includes ID photos, courtesy of SFPUC)

Contra Costa Clean Water Program Letter on NZMS concerns and recommended measures (11/8/07)

CDFG webpage on NZMS
NZMS in Western USA - database, maps, references from MSU