Poplar River Macroinvertebrate and Habitat Survey

Poplar River Macroinvertebrate and Habitat Survey

2008-09

We surveyed the biota and stream habitat of the lower mainstem of the Poplar River in August 2007 to obtain baseline information on stream assemblages as part of a TMDL (total maximum daily load) study for turbidity. Four sites were selected along the Poplar River within the last 3 km before it enters Lake Superior. Data collected included macroinvertebrate community composition, in-stream habitat structure and stream bottom substrate types, and sediment particle size distribution. Poplar River data generated from each sample site were compared to data from 24 other North Shore stream sites to better place the Poplar River’s condition into a regional context. A more nuanced analysis of the Poplar River’s condition will require a longer sampling time frame (i.e., routine monitoring every few years) as well as comparison with other large rivers along the North Shore (which we currently do not have in our database). Based on samples from August 2007, our determination is that the Poplar River’s macroinvertebrate community places the stream at the poorer end of the condition spectrum relative to other non-urban North Shore streams that we have sampled over the last 12 years.

Brady, Valerie
Breneman, Dan

Natural Resources Research Institute

Center for Water and the Environment Natural Resources Research Institute NRRI University of Minnesota, Duluth https://nrri.umn.edu/
Center for Water and the Environment Natural Resources Research Institute NRRI University of Minnesota, Duluth https://nrri.umn.edu/

Cook County Soil and Water Conservation District

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (St. Paul, Minnesota)

46

Water Biology & Aquatic Habitat

Total maximum daily load
Macroinvertebrate
Habitat
Lake superior north
Biological stressor
TMDL

Poplar River

Lake Superior - North (04010101)

Lake
Cook

2000-2009

No

https://www.pca.state.mn.us/watershed-information/lake-superior-north

Public Domain

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency