Cover or Structure Metric
A metric of the cQHEI and QHEI that assesses the presence (cQHEI, QHEI) and condition (QHEI) of physical structural components (logs, boulders, undercut banks, root wads, aquatic plants, etc.,) that provide habitat important to aquatic life.
Biological Assessment
An evaluation of the biological condition of a waterbody using surveys of the structure and function of a community of resident biota; also known as "bioassessment". It also includes the interdisciplinary process of determining condition and relating that condition to chemical, physical, and biological factors that are measured along with the biological sampling.
Use Subclasses
A subcategorization of use classes into discrete and meaningful descriptions. For aquatic life this would include a hierarchy of warmwater and cold water uses and additional stratification provided by different levels of warmwater uses and further stratification by waterbody types.