Abstract
ABSTRACT: The tolerance of a community to stress is dependent on the nature of the receiving system, and the nature and degree to which the stress is applied. However, where the stress is sufficient to cause a response, either the numbers of organisms or taxa, or both, will be affected. A simple method of ordination was used to assess the effects of stressed conditions on macroinvertebrate communities in the New River, Virginia, and compared to the diversity index (d) of Wilhm and Dorris. A principal of the method was that standing crop, as reflected by the total numbers of specimens and taxa collected, served as an indicator of community health. The most healthy situation in the study was defined as the one in which standing crop and niche partitioning were greatest.
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