Dombrowski, Thomas E. and Barber, J. Patrick . 2018. Installation & Monitoring Of Instream Benthic Macroinvertebrate Platforms: (HabiTubes & Habi-Mats) For Four Streams in Prince William County, Virginia. Watershed Science Bulletin. Center for Watershed Protection, Ellicott City, MD. 13 pages.

The Prince William County Department of Public Works Environmental Services Division has implemented a program to restore and stabilize stream channels affected by urbanization. Monitoring of these streams has previously been limited to evaluating the stabilization success of the restored channel, installed structures, and vegetation. This study examined the collection of baseline benthic macroinvertebrate data from these streams, plus a review of instream platforms (HabiTubes & Habi-Mats). The resulting information on the instream platforms demonstrated that they could provide a habitat and food source, deliver an ecological improvement/boost (increasing the number of taxa), and improve the biotic index of the benthic macroinvertebrate population.