Methods manual IV : sediment toxicity testing, field and laboratory methods and data management

Abstract

Over the past ten years the National Water Research Institute has conducted major programmes in both the Great Lakes and Fraser River as part of a programme to establish a national reference database on benthic invertebrates for Canada. A critical part of this programme is the establishment of a standard set of protocols and methods for all phases of data collection and processing. This document attempts to provide that written record of the methods being used at the institute. There are three components to the database; Data sets describing the invertebrate fauna, data sets describing the toxicity of sediments based on four invertebrate tests and data sets describing the environmental attributes of sites. In this protocols document we have described the methods being used in a sequential manner. The first section deals with field procedures, collection of both biological and environmental data, in both lentic and lotic habitats. The second section addresses the laboratory procedures regarding sample handling and sample processing for biological samples. The third addresses the issue of data management. In addition we have provided a set of tables and forms used by the programme. We hope that this will provide a useful resource for others involved in this type of work.