EPA Taps EcoAnalysts for New Macroinvertebrate Taxonomy Tools

EPA recently contracted EcoAnalysts to develop taxonomy tools needed to help taxonomists working in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Several of our staff members contributed to the development of taxonomic "help sheets, " which consist of dichotomous taxonomic keys, coupled with digital images of key morphological characters. One difficulty in using benthic macroinvertebrates as indicators of stream water quality has been that some taxonomic groups have undergone frequent and extensive systematic revision, the literature is scattered, and published keys have contained errors and can be difficult to use. These factors have made it difficult to obtain accurate identifications, which also makes obtaining consistent data a serious problem.

EcoAnalysts taxonomists used their considerable expertise to produce user-friendly keys to genera for the families Baetidae and Simuliidae and most recently Freshwater Malacostraca (Crustacea).. We have used the most reliable taxonomic characters and supplemented the keys with ample digital photographs, and presented the couplets in a logical flow. An additional helpsheet was created for the stonefly families Capniidae and Leuctridae. Feedback from users has been very positive and the documents have been popular downloads from the EPA website, at a rate of nearly 400 downloads per month. These documents can be found on the Bioassessment Publications page of the EPA's website and are linked here:

Taxonomic Aids for the Mid-Atlantic Benthic Macroinvetebrates - Ephemeroptera; Basetidae; Plcoptera; Capniidae/Leuctridae; Diptera; Simuliidae (EPA-260-R-08-014, November 2008)

Key to the Freshwater Malacostraca (Crustacea) of the Mid-Atlantic Region (EPA-260-R-08-017, November 2008)

Our commitment to excellence, innovation, stewardship, teamwork and integrity continue to guide our daily operations at EcoAnalysts, and it distinguishes us as leaders in the biomonitoring community. More than just providing clients with high-quality services, we publish our knowledge and findings within the scientific community to provide clients, colleagues and competitors better tools for bioassessment.