Assessing the effects of cascade dams on river ecological status using multi-species interaction-based index of biotic integrity (Mt-IBI)

2021 ◽  
Vol 299 ◽  
pp. 113585
Author(s):  
Mengjie Zhu ◽  
Nan Yang ◽  
Yi Li ◽  
Wenlong Zhang ◽  
Linqiong Wang ◽  
...  
2010 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 79-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hayal Desta Yimer ◽  
Seyoum Mengistou

The wetlands located at the periphery of Jimma town, southwestern Ethiopia, have critical roles in providing a range of ecological and socio-economic benefits, yet they are subject to increasing anthropogenic disturbances, notably through agriculture, settlement, intensive grazing and brick-making. This study assessed the ecological status of these wetlands, and examined the scale of the human disturbances that local communities might impose on them. Macroinvertebrate communities, water quality parameters, and human disturbance scores were assessed. Except for electrical conductivity and water temperature, no significant difference (P < 0.05) was found in physico-chemical parameters between the sampled sites. Nitrate was the only parameter that correlated with significant influence on species richness of the sampled macroinvertebrates. A total of 10 metrics were used to generate the index of biotic integrity (IBI). This IBI was then tested based on macroinvertebrate data collected. Ways of assessing and evaluating the existing ecological status of the wetlands are discussed in the context of physico-chemical parameters, IBI based on macroinvertebrates and human disturbance scales. Key Words: Catchments land use; Water quality; Macroinvertebrate; Index of Biotic Integrity; Wetland DOI: 10.3126/jowe.v3i0.2265 Journal of Wetlands Ecology, (2009) Vol. 3, pp 77-93


2021 ◽  
Vol 151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Breine ◽  
Ericia Van den Bergh ◽  
Gerlinde Van Thyune ◽  
Claude Belpaire

The first fish-based index to assess the ecological quality of lowland rivers in Flanders (Belgium) is based on data obtained from different fishing techniques without considering the gear specificity. As a consequence, this index could not be intercalibrated with other European indices which concentrate on one gear type only. In order to comply with the European Water Framework Directive, we developed a new fish-based index using data obtained from surveys in rivers with electric gear only. All 293 selected rivers belonged to the bream or barbel zone. An updated reference list of fish species was compiled based on previous work and recent data. Abiotic data were collected according to standard methods and habitat quality of all surveyed sites was pre-classified using pressure indicators. To develop the new index candidate metrics were selected from the literature and metric values were calculated. Linear mixed regression models selected metrics based on their response to the pre-classified habitat status. Correlation tests were performed to avoid redundancy among responsive metrics. Boundaries for metric scores were defined based on the calculated metric values. The new index of biotic integrity (IBI) was calculated by summation of the metric scores, and transformed to an ecological quality ratio (EQR), ranging between 0 and 1. Five integrity classes, ranging from bad to maximal ecological potential, were attributed and compared to the pre-classified habitat status of the site. In addition, the new index was also validated with an independent set of data. The new IBI proved to successfully assess the ecological status of the rivers.


Author(s):  
Frank H. McCormick ◽  
Robert M. Hughes ◽  
Philip R. Kaufmann ◽  
David V. Peck ◽  
John L. Stoddard ◽  
...  

2011 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 577-586 ◽  
Author(s):  
NG Machado ◽  
EM. Venticinque ◽  
J. Penha

Over the last 30 years, the Cerrado has been experiencing various antropic impacts that have brought about alterations to species composition, structure and functioning of aquatic habitats. Therefore, studies on negative impacts are useful to prevent future damage and restore environmental quality. The objectives of our study were: i) to adapt an index of biotic integrity of streams in the Rio Cuiabá Basin and ii) to analyze if the Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) correlated with the environmental quality measured by the Index of Environmental Quality (IEQ) and with the mesohabitat structure. We sampled 26 streams in sub-basins of the Cuiabá River. In each stream, we closed a stretch of 50 m with blockage nets and used electrofishing to capture fish. To obtain a measure of environmental quality in sampled units, we characterized the stream and its micro basin. For the analyses, we used the Spearman Correlation, Kruskal-Wallis test and Analysis of Multiple Regression. We collected 697 individuals distributed into 6 orders, 15 families and 49 species. The IBI followed changes on environmental quality measured by IEQ when we removed streams that present natural barriers from the analysis (r² = 0.4; r² = 0.58). Types of land use did not affect the biotic integrity (n = 26; df = 4; H = 4,860; p = 0.302), but natural and artificial barriers affected it (n = 26; df = 4; H = 11,027; p = 0.026). The IBI was not sensitive to variations in mesohabitat structure (F2,23 = 0.373; r² = 0.031; Axe 1 p = 0.620; Axe 2 p = 0.490). The IBI is certainly a reasonable instrument for evaluating changes in the environment, but we cannot ignore the fact that we were able to obtain the same result with any combinations of metrics. This makes its analysis and interpretation difficult.


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