Aquatic Ecology

Northern Bioscience has a team of experienced aquatic ecologists who can deliver services for stream, river, and lake environments.

We can provide the following:

field sampling of aquatic benthic macroinvertebrates (benthos) in stream, river, and lake environments using standardized protocols e.g., Ontario Benthos Biomonitoring Network (OBBN), Canadian Aquatic Biomonitoring Network (CABIN)
odonate (dragonfly and damselfly) surveys and monitoring for hydroelectric or other projects, including Species at Risk such as Rapids Clubtail, Riverine Clubtail, Laura’s Clubtail, and Pygmy Snaketail
use of in-house sampling equipment e.g., D-net, Surber sampler, petite ponar grab, Hess sampler, georeferenced underwater video system
mapping and characterization of aquatic habitats e.g., Ontario Stream Assessment Protocol (OSAP)
extraction and identification of macroinvertebrates to lowest practical level, typically to family/genus, including chironomids (midges) and oligochaetes (worms)
identification of odonate exuviae to species(we have identified 8000+ exuviae from ON, MB, QC rivers)
multivariate data analyses of benthic communities to assess potential impacts and impairment
workshops and training on using benthic macroinvertebrates for monitoring stream health

Our clients have included:

Services