Algal bioassessment metrics for wadeable streams and rivers of Maine, USA

Abstract

Many state water-quality agencies use biological assessment methods based on lotic fish and macroinvertebrate communities, but relatively few states have incorporated algal multimetric indices into monitoring programs. Algae are good indicators for monitoring water quality because they are sensitive to many environmental stressors. We evaluated benthic algal community attributes along a landuse gradient affecting wadeable streams and rivers in Maine, USA, to identify potential bioassessment metrics. We collected epilithic algal samples from 193 locations across the state. We computed weighted-average optima for common taxa for total P, total N, specific conductance, % impervious cover, and % developed watershed, which included all land use that is no longer forest or wetland. We assigned Maine stream tolerance values and categories (sensitive, intermediate, tolerant) to taxa based on their optima and responses to watershed disturbance. We evaluated performance of algal community metrics used in multimetric indices from other regions and novel metrics based on Maine data. Metrics specific to Maine data, such as the relative richness of species characterized as being sensitive in Maine, were more correlated with % developed watershed than most metrics used in other regions. Few communitystructure attributes (e.g., species richness) were useful metrics in Maine. Performance of algal bioassessment models would be improved if metrics were evaluated with attributes of local data before inclusion in multimetric indices or statistical models.

Disentangling the roles of spatial and environmental variables in shaping benthic algal assemblages in rivers of central and northern China

“…Nevertheless, the study scale should not be smaller than the spatial autocorrelation distance for algae where mass effects will interfere with the environmental influences (Heino 2013). If the studies have to be conducted on large scale, which is true for several national or regional biological monitoring programs (Besse-Lototskaya et al 2011;Danielson et al 2011), the other approach can be adopted. In such situations, we suggest to partition the total explained variance into environmental and spatial components in ecological communities using appropriate spatial modeling techniques, together with other statistical methods (such as the methods used in present research).…”

Benthic soft-bodied algae as bioindicators of stream water quality

“…Danielson et al (2011), in a survey of 193 wadeable streams in Maine, used the weighted-average approach to compute species optima for watershed disturbances (e.g. TP, total nitrogen (TN), conductivity, % land use that is no longer forest or wetland) and to categorize the algal species based on their sensitivity and tolerance to disturbance.…”

“…"Algae" refers to entire algal assemblage, including diatoms, "SBA" refers to soft-bodied (non-diatom) algae only. References: Danielson et al, 2011 (a);Fetscher et al, 2014 (b);Hill et al, 2000 (c); Hill et al, 2003 (d);Porter et al, 2008 (e); Griffith et al, 2002 (f);Leland and Porter 2001 (g);Munn et al, 2002 (i); O'Brien and Wehr 2010 (j); Pan et al, 1999 (k); Stancheva et al, 2012a (m); Stancheva et al, 2013b (n); Vis et al, 1998 (o). Abbreviations: IBI -multimetric indices of biotic integrity, RB -relative biovolume, RArelative abundance based on cell numbers, RSR -relative species richness, SA -surface area, CRUS -Cladophora glomerata + Rhizoclonium hieroglyphicum + Ulva flexuosa + Stigeoclonium spp., ZHR -Zygnemataceae + heterocystous cyanobacteria + Rhodophyta, DIN -dissolved inorganic nitrogen, TN-total nitrogen, TP -total phosphorus, DOC -dissolved organic carbon, TSS -total suspended solids, WT -water temperature.…”

“…In Asia, many countries need capacity building programs to develop aquatic bioassessment techniques commonly used in Europe, US, Japan and South Korea (Goulden, 2011). Currently, softbodied algae metrics , Griffith et al, 2002Porter et al, 2008;Danielson et al, 2011;Potapova and Carlisle, 2011) and indices based solely on soft-bodied algae Schaumburg et al, 2004;Schneider andLindstrøm, 2009, 2011;Fetscher et al, 2014) have been developed for large-scale stream bioassessments in Europe and the US.…”

Accounting for regional variation in both natural environment and human disturbance to improve performance of multimetric indices of lotic benthic diatoms

“…Variation in human disturbance among study regions should also be considered in developing MMIs because responses of metrics vary with different kinds of human disturbance (Danielson et al, 2011;Rotter et al, 2013). Human disturbance differs among regions.…”