Graduate Student

Periphyton sampling protocol The Central Plains Center for Bioassessment (CPCB) developed two quantitative periphyton samplers and associated protocols based on Barbour (1999), Gale (1975) and Bahls (1993) and employed them during the 2000 sampling season. Preliminary success indicate that these samplers and protocols provide a quick, easy and cost-effective method for sampling periphyton streams of the Central Plains region. The approach allows investigators to use a standard quantitative sampling method for periphyton when sampling streams with various substrates that differ between and within streams. Periphyton consists primarily of attached algae, but can also include rotifers, protozoa, and bacteria attached to aquatic substrates along with free-living microorganisms found among the attached forms. For the purposes of the CPCB, we refer to periphyton as only the algal component of this community. As an intermediate between the chemical, physical and biotic factors in aquatic systems, periphyton is an important indicator of the health of aquatic systems (Lowe & Pan 1996). Periphyton is relatively stationary and most species have a short life cycle allowing periphyton communities to respond rapidly to perturbation (Rosen 1995). Thes