Ecological Indicators for Surface Water Quality - Methodological Approaches to Fish Community Assessments in China and Germany

AbstractAssessments of aquatic ecosystem health rely increasingly on biological indicators such as fish community structure, but national approaches differ. To use bioindicators efficiently and to allow cross-country comparisons, standardized tools and methods are required. Within this study, currently applied procedures for stream ecosystem assessment in China and Germany are summarized and active and passive fish sampling methodologies used in both countries are investigated. The methodological comparison was based on the results of a joint Chinese German workshops within the SINOWATER project in 2016. A joint sampling campaign was then conducted in 2017 at 6 representative sites within 70 km of the Fan River, a tributary to the Liao River System in Liaoning province, China. Active methods comprised single-pass electrofishing methods as typically applied in Germany and China as well as seining. As passive methods, common minnow traps, gill-netting and longline-fishing were used. To allow the comparability between methods, a standardized sampling design comprising several replicates at each site was chosen, covering a range of different ecological stream conditions. By comparison of the different fishing methodologies, electrofishing yielded the best overall results to assess fish biodiversity in terms of species abundance, richness and catch per unit effort. Differences in the effectiveness of the different electrofishing approaches mostly depended on the power source used. To cover the full spectrum of the fish community and to detect very rare species, a combination of different active and passive methods was most useful. If electrofishing is the method of choice, it is very important to adjust the gear power to river specific conditions such as flow, size and depth. The results of this joint Chinese-German study may aid in the selection of suitable sampling methods for fish community assessments in the future.

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Influence of agriculture on in-stream habitat and fish community structure in Piedmont watersheds of the Chattahoochee River System

Ecology Of Freshwater Fish ◽

10.1111/j.1600-0633.1999.tb00075.x ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 237-246 ◽

Cited By ~ 81

Author(s):

C. A. Walser ◽

H. L. Bart

Keyword(s):

Community Structure ◽

Fish Community ◽

River System ◽

Stream Habitat ◽

Fish Community Structure ◽

Chattahoochee River

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Spatial and temporal variability of fish communities of the Upper Mississippi River, USA

Animal Biology ◽

10.1163/157075609x417107 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 59 (1) ◽

pp. 67-85 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ayhan Yildirim ◽

Mark Pegg

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Community Structure ◽

Mississippi River ◽

Fish Community ◽

Fish Communities ◽

Morphological Characteristics ◽

River System ◽

Functional Composition ◽

Upper Mississippi River ◽

Fish Community Structure

AbstractFish community structure, morphological characteristics, functional composition, and life history attributes in relation to three aquatic habitats, backwater shoreline (BWS), main channel borders (MCB), and side channel borders (SCB) in Pool 4 of the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS) were assessed. Fish communities were sampled annually using standardized electrofishing techniques from 1994 to 2004. We found significant differences in community composition and abundance, and the clearest pattern was that diversity and fish community structure in BWS were different from those in both MCB and SCB. We also found morphological characteristics, functional composition, and life-history differences among the habitats, with fish communities from BWS having a number of different characteristics from both MCB and SCB. Temporal changes in fish abundance, community structure, morphological, functional and life-history attributes from each habitat may reflect both human impact and environmental factors on the Upper Mississippi River System.

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The effect of a large-scale irrigation scheme on the fish community structure and integrity of a subtropical river system in South Africa

Ecological Indicators ◽

10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.05.005 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 69 ◽

pp. 533-539 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

W. Malherbe ◽

V. Wepener ◽

J.H.J. van Vuren

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Community Structure ◽

Fish Community ◽

Large Scale ◽

River System ◽

Fish Community Structure ◽

Irrigation Scheme

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Surface-water-quality assessment of the upper Illinois River Basin in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin; analysis of relations between fish-community structure and environmental conditions in the Fox, Des Plaines, and Du Page River basins in Illinois, 1982-84

10.3133/wri944094 ◽

1995 ◽

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Community Structure ◽

Surface Water ◽

Fish Community ◽

Surface Water Quality ◽

Water Quality Assessment ◽

River Basins ◽

Illinois River ◽

Fish Community Structure ◽

Illinois River Basin

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Development and assessment of a new method for combining catch per unit effort data from different fish sampling gears: multigear mean standardization (MGMS)

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ◽

10.1139/cjfas-2016-0003 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 74 (1) ◽

pp. 8-14 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Daniel K. Gibson-Reinemer ◽

Brian S. Ickes ◽

John H. Chick

Keyword(s):

Community Structure ◽

Fish Community ◽

Fish Community Structure ◽

Catch Per Unit Effort ◽

Combine Data ◽

Unit Effort ◽

Combining Data ◽

Highly Correlated ◽

Riverine Fish ◽

Simulated Sampling

Fish community assessments are often based on sampling with multiple gear types. However, multivariate methods used to assess fish community structure and composition are sensitive to differences in the relative scale of indices or measures of abundance produced by different sampling methods. This makes combining data from different sampling gears and methods a serious challenge. We developed a method of combining catch per unit effort data that standardizes catch per unit effort data across gear types, which we call multigear mean standardization (MGMS). We evaluated how well MGMS and other types of standardization reflect underlying community structure through a computer simulation that generated model riverine-fish communities and simulated sampling data for two gears. In these simulations, combining sampling observations from two gears with MGMS produced community structure estimates that were highly correlated with true community structure under a variety of conditions that are common in large rivers. Our simulation results indicate that the use of MGMS to combine data from different sampling gears is an effective data manipulation method for the analysis of fish community structure.

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Changes in Pelagic Fish Community Composition, Abundance, and Biomass along a Productivity Gradient in Subtropical Lakes

Water ◽

10.3390/w13060858 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (6) ◽

pp. 858

Author(s):

Jinlei Yu ◽

Wei Zhen ◽

Lingyang Kong ◽

Hu He ◽

Yongdong Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fish Species ◽

Fish Community ◽

Yangtze River Basin ◽

Small Fish ◽

Fish Community Structure ◽

Catch Per Unit Effort ◽

Subtropical Lakes ◽

Fish Catch ◽

Total Fish ◽

The Yangtze River Basin

How fish communities change with eutrophication in temperate lakes is well documented, while only a few studies are available from subtropical lakes. We investigate the fish community structure in 36 lakes located in the Yangtze River basin, covering a wide nutrient gradient. We found that fish species richness and total fish catch per unit effort (CPUE) increased significantly with chlorophyll a (Chla). Among the different feeding types, the proportion of zooplanktivores increased significantly with Chla, while the percentage of omnibenthivores showed no obvious changes; the CPUE of piscivorous Culter spp. increased with Chla, while their proportion of total catch decreased pronouncedly. Based on the index of relative importance (IRI), the most important and dominant fish species was the zooplanktivorous Sijiao (Toxabramis swinhonis), followed by the omniplanktivorous sharpbelly (Hemiculter leucisculus) and the omnibenthivorous crucian carp (Carassius carassius), a small-sized species belonging to the Cyprinidae family. The CPUE of these three species increased significantly with Chla. The focus has, so far, been directed at large fish, but as emphasized by our results, the abundant small fish species were dominant in our subtropical study lakes even in terms of biomass, and, accordingly, we recommend that more attention be paid to the population dynamics of these species in the future.

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Fish community structure, habitat complexity, and soundscape characteristics of patch reefs in a tropical, back-reef system

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps12829 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 609 ◽

pp. 33-48 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

RP Lyon ◽

DB Eggleston ◽

DR Bohnenstiehl ◽

CA Layman ◽

SW Ricci ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Community Structure ◽

Habitat Complexity ◽

Fish Community ◽

Back Reef ◽

Fish Community Structure ◽

Patch Reefs ◽

Reef System

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Dissolved oxygen and temperature best predict deep-sea fish community structure in the Gulf of California with climate change implications

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps13240 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 637 ◽

pp. 159-180

Author(s):

ND Gallo ◽

M Beckwith ◽

CL Wei ◽

LA Levin ◽

L Kuhnz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Community Structure ◽

Community Composition ◽

Environmental Conditions ◽

Deep Sea ◽

Gulf Of California ◽

Fish Community ◽

Demersal Fish ◽

Fish Community Structure ◽

Explained Variance

Natural gradient systems can be used to examine the vulnerability of deep-sea communities to climate change. The Gulf of California presents an ideal system for examining relationships between faunal patterns and environmental conditions of deep-sea communities because deep-sea conditions change from warm and oxygen-rich in the north to cold and severely hypoxic in the south. The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) remotely operated vehicle (ROV) ‘Doc Ricketts’ was used to conduct seafloor video transects at depths of ~200-1400 m in the northern, central, and southern Gulf. The community composition, density, and diversity of demersal fish assemblages were compared to environmental conditions. We tested the hypothesis that climate-relevant variables (temperature, oxygen, and primary production) have more explanatory power than static variables (latitude, depth, and benthic substrate) in explaining variation in fish community structure. Temperature best explained variance in density, while oxygen best explained variance in diversity and community composition. Both density and diversity declined with decreasing oxygen, but diversity declined at a higher oxygen threshold (~7 µmol kg-1). Remarkably, high-density fish communities were observed living under suboxic conditions (<5 µmol kg-1). Using an Earth systems global climate model forced under an RCP8.5 scenario, we found that by 2081-2100, the entire Gulf of California seafloor is expected to experience a mean temperature increase of 1.08 ± 1.07°C and modest deoxygenation. The projected changes in temperature and oxygen are expected to be accompanied by reduced diversity and related changes in deep-sea demersal fish communities.

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Community changes of coral reef fishes in Bunaken National Park, North Sulawesi, Indonesia

AQUATIC SCIENCE & MANAGEMENT ◽

10.35800/jasm.1.2.2013.7273 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 117

Author(s):

Fakhrizal Setiawan ◽

Janny D Kusen ◽

Georis JF Kaligis

Keyword(s):

Reef Fish ◽

National Park ◽

Fish Community ◽

Time Series Data ◽

Coral Cover ◽

Fish Communities ◽

Reef Fishes ◽

Series Data ◽

Fish Community Structure ◽

Reef Fish Community

In order to look at changes in coral and reef fish communities during the period of 2006 to 2013, this research was carried out at Bunaken National Park (BNP) with 26 observation sites. The existing data and information of reef fish communities in the park generally could not be used as representative for describing the whole region. Percentage of coral cover and fish abundance during the study period shows that Bunaken Island is more similar to other locations. Reef fish community structure as seen from ecological index (H' at all sites being categorized, E category labile and low category C) shows the condition of the reef fish community is still good. Changes in the structure of reef fish communities showed declining conditions compared to 2006, and coral cover continued to decrease compared to 1998 and 2007. Good overall reef fish and coral cover have decreased; it is thought to be related to the pressure in BNP. Some of the pressures in the region were (i) increasing numbers of domestic as well as foreign visitors, (ii) increasing number of residents in the region, as well as the burden of waste and trash from the Bay of Manado. Penelitian dilakukan di Taman Nasional Bunaken (Utara dan Selatan) pada 26 lokasi pengamatan untuk menganalisis perubahan struktur komunitas ikan karang melalui kajian dari suatu time series data dari beberapa penelitian sebelumnya. Data primer mengenai ikan-ikan karang diperoleh melalui visual sensus bawah air yang bersamaan dengan observasi terumbu karang menggunakan point intercept transect. Nilai persentase tutupan karang dan kelimpahan ikan menunjukkan bahwa pada lokasi pengamatan Pulau Bunaken paling baik dibandingan lokasi lainnya. Struktur komunitas ikan karang yang dianalisis dengan indeks ekologi menunjukkan indeks keanekaragaman (H’) di semua site masuk kategori sedang, indeks kesamaan (E) kategori labil dan indeks Dominansi (C) kategori rendah. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa kondisi komunitas ikan karang masih baik, sekalipun perubahan struktur komunitas ikan karang menunjukkan kondisi yang menurun dibandingkan tahun 2006, begitu juga tutupan karang yang terus turun dibandingkan tahun 1998 dan 2007. Secara keseluruhan baik ikan karang maupun tutupan karang mengalami penurunan, hal ini diduga terkait dengan tekanan yang dialami kawasan TN. Bunaken. Salah satu tekanan terhadap kawasan adalah jumlah turis dari dalam maupun luar negeri yang semakin meningkat tiap tahunnya, penambahan jumlah penduduk di dalam kawasan, serta beban limbah dan sampah dari Teluk Manado.

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