Citizen science has the potential to generate valuable biologic data for use in restoration monitoring, while also providing a unique opportunity for public participation in local restoration projects. In this article, we describe and evaluate a citizen science program designed to monitor the effect of stream restoration construction disturbance on the macroinvertebrate community. We present the results of a 7‐year stream restoration study conducted by citizen scientists utilizing a Before‐After‐Control‐Impact (BACI) design. Trait‐based macroinvertebrate data showed a strong response to restoration construction disturbance and return to pre‐restoration conditions within 2 years. The findings of this study suggest that citizen science can generate meaningful BACI‐oriented data about ecological restoration; however, until more research is conducted, citizen data should only be used to augment professional data intended to demonstrate restoration success.

Fine sediments in excess of natural background conditions are one of most globally common causes of stream degradation, with well documented impacts on aquatic communities. The lack of agreement on methods for monitoring fine sediments makes it difficult to share data, limiting assessments of stream conditions across jurisdictions. We present a model that circumvents these limitations by inferring fine sediments in Oregon streams through sampling of macroinvertebrates. Tolerances to fine sediments (<0.06 mm diameter) were calculated for 240 macroinvertebrate taxa, from a calibration dataset of 446 sites across Oregon, as well as an independent validation dataset of 50 samples. Weighted averaging methods were used to infer fine sediment levels in streams by weighting the tolerances of modeled taxa observed in a sample by their abundances. The final model, the Biological Sediment Tolerance Index (BSTI), showed a strong relationship to measured fine sediments (calibration r 2 = 0.49, validation r 2 = 0.58). Rootmean-squared-error was small in the calibration dataset (2% fines), but larger in the validation dataset (14% fines). Repeatability was assessed by examining variability in BSTI at 14 sites across Oregon. Because field methods for sampling macroinvertebrates are standardized across resource agencies in Oregon and the responses of macroinvertebrates represent the actual effects of fine sediments on stream ecosystems, the BSTI may offer water resource managers' a cost-effective method for assessing fine sediment conditions in their ongoing efforts to improve water quality across the state.

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A primary goal of river restoration is to reestablish lost ecological functions. Yet the impact of restoration on diatom assemblages and algal biomass in a stream is rarely addressed in the scientific literature reporting the outcomes of restoration projects aimed at improving riverine habitat. To investigate the potential for using benthic

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