BioData - Aquatic Bioassessment Data for the Nation

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) BioData Retrieval system provides access to aquatic bioassessment data (biological community and physical habitat data) collected by USGS scientists from stream ecosystems across the nation. USGS scientists collect fish-, aquatic macroinvertebrate-, and algae-community samples and conduct stream physical habitat surveys as part of its fundamental mission to describe and understand the Earth. The publicly available BioData Retrieval system disseminates data from over 15,000 fish, aquatic macroinvertebrate, and algae community samples. Additionally, the system serves data from over 5000 physical data sets (samples), such as reach habitat and light availability, that were collected to support the community sample analyses. The system contains sample data that were collected and processed since 1991 using the protocols of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA). As of 2010, the system has added data collected by USGS scientists using the procedures and protocols of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency National Rivers and Streams Assessment program (NRSA).