"Macroinvertebrates are small animals without backbones that live on and under submerged logs, rocks, and aquatic plants in the stream bed during some period of their life cycle. They play a central role in stream ecosystems by feeding on periphyton (algae or slime), macrophytes (aquatic plants), dead leaves and wood, or on each other. High Macroinvertebrate Community Index (MCI) scores generally indicate better stream health. Macroinvertebrates are good continuous indicators of the health of their stream environment. This is because they are relatively sedentary and long–lived (a year or more) which means they live with any stresses or changes that occur in their location (eg, pollution, habitat removal, floods and droughts). They complement discrete measures like chemical monitoring, which only reflects the condition at the exact time and place of sampling. Such monitoring might miss effects of a short–lived pollutant or an unanticipated type of disturbance.
This dataset relates to the ""River water quality: benthic macroinvertebrates"" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website. "
