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Benthic macroinvertebrate, fish, and physical habitat data for selected streams in Reston, VA

Metadata Updated: October 29, 2025

The United States Geological Survey Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center (USGS VA-WV-WSC) and Fairfax County assembled this data release in support of ongoing USGS VA-WV-WSC monitoring and evaluations of stream conditions overtime of two previously restored, urban-suburban streams in Reston, Virginia – Snakeden Branch and The Glade. The aquatic benthic macroinvertebrate, fish, and habitat sampling and surveying were conducted on the same eight, 100-meter stream reaches (four reaches in Snakeden Branch and four reaches in The Glade) by the USGS VA-WV-WSC. Aquatic benthic macroinvertebrate sampling and physical habitat surveys were conducted in both Spring and Fall of 2021 and a fish survey was conducted in the Summer 2021. Data provided are of five general types: 1. Site locations and characteristics for each of the eight sampling and surveying sites within the two monitored streams; 2. Benthic macroinvertebrate identifications and analytical laboratory results; 3. Fairfax County benthic macroinvertebrate Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) scores and individual metric results; 4. Fish assemblages, and; 5. Physical habitat measurements. The metadata file “Metadata_for_Reston_Ecological_Data.xml” contains important information pertaining to the attributes of each entity of data, field and laboratory methods, and caveats associated with the Fall benthic macroinvertebrate IBI and metric scores. The "README.txt" file contains a description of each file contained in this data release. This database contains the aquatic benthic macroinvertebrate taxonomic identification and abundance data derived from samples collected at each of the eight total reaches within Snakeden Branch and The Glade in Fall and Spring of calendar year 2021. Samples were collected by the USGS VA-WV-WSC using the Fairfax County standard operating procedures (FCSOP) and specimen identification and abundance calculations were performed by a third-party laboratory. Fairfax County benthic macroinvertebrate IBI scores and individual metrics were calculated by Fairfax County following FCSOP. It is important to note for this data release that the IBI scores presented for Fall samples have caveats associated with them and the ratings (e.g. Excellent, Good, Fair, etc.) for the Fall samples have been intentionally excluded. Please read the methods section of the “Metadata_for_Reston_Ecological_Data.xml” file carefully for further explanation. This data release also contains the fish assemblages data, collected during the Summer of 2021, from the eight total reaches in Snakeden Branch and The Glade. Electrofishing surveys were conducted following FCSOP by the USGS VA-WV-WSC to obtain these results. Finally, this data release contains the physical habitat data surveyed in both Fall and Spring of 2021. Multiple habitat metrics were measured throughout each of the eight total reaches on Snakeden Branch and The Glade.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date September 12, 2025
Metadata Updated Date October 29, 2025

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date September 12, 2025
Metadata Updated Date October 29, 2025
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/usgs-62262c58d34ee0c6b38b79f4
Data Last Modified 2022-07-05T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id ab9c8435-ed49-4d1f-97d9-1d2e83cddd8e
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -77.3721760, 38.9184448, -77.3267320, 38.9460143
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 494d7675247c2e2f75cfa0aa49b7e422e5e22fca7d2e5b686cedcc5f51c96c9b
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -77.3721760, 38.9184448, -77.3721760, 38.9460143, -77.3267320, 38.9460143, -77.3267320, 38.9184448, -77.3721760, 38.9184448}

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