Macroinvertebrate Forage in the Smith River Tailwater
Benthic macroinvertebrates were sampled in July 2000 and April 2001 at 12 sites in the Smith River below Philpott Dam in southwestern Virginia. One riffle in each site was stratified into upstream, middle, and downstream transects and Surber samples were collected at 2 randomly-selected locations on each transect. Macroinvertebrates were identified to family and each sample was measured for wet weight. Family richness was calculated and simple linear regression was used to evaluate longitudinal trends in mean abundance and wet weight with increasing distance from the dam. We found low...
