The rapid bioassessment method, SASS (South African Scoring System) has been developed to assess water quality in riverine ecosystems. It is a scoring system based on the presence or absence of macroinvertebrate groups, and yields three values, namely SASS4 Score, Number of Taxa and Average Score Per Taxon (ASPT). The current and future use of SASS, including incorporation into the National Biomonitoring programme for Riverine Ecosystems, necessitates evaluation of this bioassessment method. This study focuses on three aspects, namely spatial variation; temporal variation in SASS scores; and the effect of biotope availability on SASS scores.

Southern African Journal of Aquatic Sciences, 1997, Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 79-94