SASSV5 (15)

Question 1

Pros? (4)

Answer 1

• Little & inexpensive equipment needed.
• Macroinvertebrates are easily learnt.
• Sime & easily applied techniques.
• Rapid technique to assess a river’s health.

Question 2

Cons? (4)

Answer 2

• Cannot identify the source of pollution.
• Doesn’t specify when a pollution event took place.
• Limited by a river’s flow rate & accessibility and safety.
• Limited by the range of habitats

Question 3

What constitutes a good river health assessment site?/Site selection criteria?

Answer 3

● Choose a representative section of the river that’s easily accessible with no recent signs of flooding.

● No.other pollutant sources interfering with the focus of the bio monitoring assessment.

● Are there suitable sampling habitats at the site?

Question 4

Safety to sampling criteria? (3)

Answer 4

• Can you & your fellow assessors swim?
• What dangerous animals might be in the area (snakes, crocodiles & hippos)?
• Make local inquiries!
• Work as a team in dangerous areas.
• Be vigilant of personal safety & high river flows (flooding).

Question 5

Purposes of waiders?

Answer 5

• Keep legs dry.
• To prevent standing in polluted water.

Question 6

Equipment? (5)

Answer 6

• SASS net.
• Life jacket.
• Waders, rubber boots/gumboots or river shoes.
• Gloves (hand/shoulder length).
• Pocket knife.

Question 7

Protective equipment? (4)

Answer 7

• Throw line.
• Sun hat/cap.
• Polarized sunglasses.
• Protective sun cream.

Question 8

Standard SASS5 net requirements? (2)

Answer 8

• 30cm by 30cm dimensions.
• 1mm of net pore size.

Question 9

Sampling equipment? (6)

Answer 9

• SASS5 net.
• Trays for each biotope.
• Bucket with clear water for rinsing net.
• SASS5 Data sheet.
• Aquatic invertebrates of South African rivers Field guide.
• Illustrations guide.

Question 10

Equipment to aid identification? (6)

Answer 10

• Magnifying glass.
• Pipette.
• Pipette with scoop net.
• Forceps.
• Ice cube tray (light colour).
• Pen/Pencil & clipboard.

Question 11

On-site instrumentation? (3)

Answer 11

• Clarity tube.
• DO (Dissolved Oxygen) Meter.
• GPS (Global Positioning System).

Question 12

Biotope Types? (3)

Answer 12

• Stone biotope.
• Vegetation biotope.
• Gravel, Sand & Mud (GSM) biotope.

Question 13

Stones biotope?

Answer 13

= rocky, riffle type habitat with stones of 2cm-25cm.

Question 14

Stones biotope types? (2)

Answer 14

• Stones In Current (SIC).
• Stones Out Of Current (SOOC).

Question 15

SIC features? (5)

Answer 15

• vigorous turning of stone.
• 2 minutes sampling time.
• 5 minutes max. sampling time.
• note sampling time in data sheet.
• range = left, right, upstream & downstream.

Question 16

SOOC features? (5)

Answer 16

• slow moving water on stones.
• stones have sediment on them.
• 1 minute sampling time.
• range = left, right, upstream & downstream.
• stones usually have water pennies & freshwater sponges.

Question 17

After collecting SIC & SOOC samples?

Answer 17

Combine the contents of the SIC & SOOC samples into 1 tray for analysis.

Question 18

Common errors of Stones biotope? (3)

Answer 18

• Stones are not vigorously turned over to allow dislodging of organisms that cling to the rocks.

• Sampling of biotope exceeds 2 minutes sampling period.

• Ensure that water being sampled is connected to the main river channel.

Question 19

Vegetation biotope?

Answer 19

= vegetation growing on the sides of the river/marginal vegetation.

Question 20

Vegetation biotope features?

Answer 20

• 2m sample in total (VIC & VOOC).
• vigorously bump against vegetation & sweep it in net.
• 1m² of aquatic vegetation.

Question 21

After collecting vegetation samples?

Answer 21

Combine VIC, VOOC & Aquatic vegetation in 1 tray.

Question 22

Common errors of Vegetation biotope?

Answer 22

• Tendency to over sample or under sample.

• Not enough range of vegetation biotope sample.

• Aquatic vegetation is sometimes overlooked.

Question 23

GSM biotope?

Answer 23

= found in slow moving water sampled in this particular order.

Question 24

GSM biotope features?

Answer 24

• jump.into river, move boots vigorously and capture.

• flush the net with clean water so that mud & clay don’t end up in tray & make identification difficult.

• 1 minute sampling time.

Question 25

GSM biotope common errors?

Answer 25

• Ensure your net doesn’t fill up.with gravel as you sample.

• Ensure your net doesn’t fill up.wit clods of clay.

Question 26

After collecting GSM samples?

Answer 26

Combine the bits collected within the GSM areas into 1 tray for analysis.