Space is provided in the "SAMPLE AND PHOTOGRAPH NOTES" section for recording site notes and details of photographs taken. The purpose of recording information about photographs is to apprise the data-sheet reviewer of the availability and location of su pporting photographs. Desired information about photographs includes the medium used (for example, prints, slides, or video), the repository for the photographs, and a brief description of the subject of each photograph. Technical details associated wit h the photographs, such as type of camera, exposure settings, focal length, and type of film used, may be entered in a separate photodocumentation data sheet. This section is also used to record information on unusual or unique site conditions, problems encountered in sampling, departures from "normal" sample-collection techniques, and recommendations for modifying sampling procedures and approaches. Such field notes are valuable for interpreting outliers in the data and for improving sampling procedure s and design.
The back of the QMH field data sheet contains three sections. The section labeled "INSTREAM HABITAT TYPES SAMPLED" lists the matrix of 51 instream habitat types that can occur in each sampling reach. The codes for the type(s) of sampler(s) used to sampl e the various instream habitat types are entered in the appropriate cells of this matrix. Sampler codes are provided in the section "SAMPLER CODES" of the QMH field data sheet. There are provisions for adding new samplers in the QMH sampler code matrix after entry 27. These new entries relate to the specific data sheet upon which they are entered. They are not nationally consistent as are sampler codes 1-27. The section labeled "EQUAL SAMPLING EFFORT PROCEDURE" is for recording which procedure is use d to divide sampling effort among the various instream habitats sampled.
Figure 14 illustrates how the appropriate sampler codes are entered into the cells corresponding to the various instream habitat types. If multiple samplers are used within a habitat, the sampler codes are separated by a comma. If a habitat type is not present in the sampling reach, "NA" (not applicable) is entered in the corresponding cell. If the habitat type is present but not sampled, "NC" (not collected) is entered. The example provided in figure 14 indicates that 28 of the 51 instream habitat ty pes were present at this site and 27 were sampled. One type--run, island-margin, natural-bed--was present but not collected. Six different samplers (fig. 13 codes in parentheses) were used: Slack sampler (2), D-frame aquatic net (7), seine (8), petite Ponar (17), visual collection from wood (22), and visual collection from leaf debris (23).