Comparing the performance of different stream classification systems using aquatic macroinvertebrates

Abstract

Aim:We evaluated five stream classification systems observing: 1) differences in richness, abundance and macroinvertebrates communities among stream classes within classification systems; and 2) whether classification systems present better performance using macroinvertebrates. Additionally, we evaluated the effects of taxonomic resolution and data type (abundance and presence) on results. Methods: Five stream classification systems were used, two based on hydroregions, one based on ecoregions by FEOW, a fourth one based on stream orders and the last one based on clusters of environment variables sampled in 37 streams at Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. We used a randomization test to evaluate differences of richness and abundance, a db-MANOVA to evaluate the differences of species assemblages and Classification Strength (CS) to evaluate the classifications performance. Results: There were differences of richness and abundance among stream classes within each stream classification. The same result was found for community data, except for stream order classifications in family level. We observed that stream classes obtained for each stream classification differed in terms of environment variables (db-MANOVA). The classification based on environment variables showed higher CS values than other classification systems. The taxonomic resolution was important to the observed results. Data on genera level presented CS values 12% higher than family level for cluster classification, and the data type was dependent on the classification system and taxonomic resolution employed. Conclusion: Our results indicate that classifications based on cluster of environment variables was better than other stream classification systems, and similar results using genera level can be obtained for management programs using family resolution in a geographical context similar to this study.Keywords: environment classification, classification strength, MRPP, hydroregions, tropical environment.Resumo: Objetivo: Avaliamos cinco sistemas de classificação de riachos observando: 1) diferenças na riqueza, abundância e composição da comunidade de invertebrados em riachos entre as classes das classificações utilizadas e 2) qual o melhor esquema de classificação usando macroinvertebrados. Concomitante, avaliamos os efeitos da resolução taxonômica e tipo de dados (abundância e presença/ausência) sobre os resultados. Métodos: Cinco sistemas de classificação de riachos foram adotados, sendo dois baseados em hidrorregiões, ecorregiões aquáticas, ordem do rio e a partir do agrupamento de variáveis ambientais amostradas em 37 riachos no estado do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Utilizamos um teste de aleatorização e uma db-MANOVA para avaliar diferenças na riqueza, abundância e comunidades entre as classes de riacho para cada classificação utilizada. Usamos a força de classificação (CS) para medir o desempenho dos sistemas de classificação adotados. Resultados: Houve diferenças na riqueza e abundância entre as classes de rios dentro de cada classific...

Ecoregions, climate, topography, physicochemical, or a combination of all: Which criteria are the best to define river types based on abiotic variables and macroinvertebrates in neotropical rivers?

“…In South America there are recent experiences of regionalization or river typologies in countries such as Bolivia (Moya et al 2003), Brazil (Vasconcelos et al, 2013;Martins et al, 2017;Agra et al, 2018), Chile (Fuster et al, 2015) and Argentina (Pero et al, 2019). Recently, an ecoregional classification from northwestern Argentina had been proved to be useful as a base to classify fluvial ecosystems (Pero et al 2019).…”

Correspondence between stream benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages and ecoregions in northwestern Argentina

“…One study found that ecoregions had higher classification strengths for fish assemblages in the Paraíba do Sul River than did other classification systems (Pinto et al 2009). In contrast, another study observed higher classification strength values for macroinvertebrate assemblages and for a classification derived from a select set of local environmental variables than for fish assemblages and other classifications, such as ecoregions and hydroecoregions in Rio Grande do Sul (Vasconcelos et al 2013).…”

Potential distribution of riffle beetles (Coleoptera: Elmidae) in southern Brazil

“…However, ecoregions comprise several features, such as climate, topography and vegetation type, that can influence the occurrence of other freshwater taxa (Vasconcelos et al . ). Elmidae assemblage composition varies across different Brazilian regions, as shown by many studies (Passos et al .…”

“…The role of ecoregions in explaining large-scale diversity patterns of freshwater species was first proposed by Abell et al (2008), mainly based on the distribution of fish species. However, ecoregions comprise several features, such as climate, topography and vegetation type, that can influence the occurrence of other freshwater taxa (Vasconcelos et al 2013). Elmidae assemblage composition varies across different Brazilian regions, as shown by many studies (Passos et al 2010;Segura et al 2013;Braun et al 2018b).…”