Assessment of Aquatic Ecosystem Health with Indices of Biotic Integrity (IBIs) in the Ganjiang River System, China

Abstract

Indices of biotic integrity (IBIs) are widely used to assess aquatic ecosystem health. However, there are few studies on their relationships. Based on fish, macroinvertebrate and plankton survey data collected in the Ganjiang River system from 2016 to 2017, redundancy analysis (RDA) and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) were used to analyze how the community structures of these organisms respond to environmental variables. The fish IBI (F-IBI), benthic macroinvertebrate IBI (B-IBI), and phytoplankton IBI (P-IBI) were applied to evaluate the health status of the aquatic ecosystem. A Kruskal–Wallis test (p < 0.05) and Spearman’s correlation coefficient analysis were performed to evaluate the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of the results. Our results suggested that the F-IBI-, B-IBI-, and P-IBI-based assessments indicated good, fair, and healthy Ganjiang River system ecosystem health statuses, respectively, and significant differences existed among these indices (p < 0.05). The main environmental factors affecting F-IBI, B-IBI, and P-IBI were different. At the temporal scale, the F-IBI and B-IBI were stable, while the P-IBI fluctuated obviously. The consistency between the F-IBI and B-IBI results was better than that between each of these indices and the P-IBI results, and the consistency was better on a larger scale. These research results show that comprehensive assessments based on multiple groups rather than a single group can better characterize the impacts of environmental pressures on water ecosystems.

Monitoring of Rivers and Streams Conditions Using Biological Indices with Emphasis on Algae: A Comprehensive Descriptive Review toward River Management

“…According to Gordon et al [7], in the case of the biotic integrity index small disturbance to the system has negligible effect on the biological integrity of the system, which was one of the presuppositions of its design [185]. However, a unified conclusion regarding the regularity of different group-based IBI evaluation results has not been reached [188][189][190] as seen in Huang et al [191]. Various biotic integrity-based biotic indices besides IBI exist:…”

Evaluating a river's ecological health: A multidimensional approach

“…However, the watershed water ecosystem is notably complex, resulting in the inability to exhaust all environmental factors. Biological indicators offer insights into environmental changes by observing the responses of aquatic organisms to stressors [ 24 ]. Thus, the index of biological integrity (IBI) has become a vital method for assessing the overall health of water ecosystems, as it synthesizes various biological indicators [ [25] , [26] , [27] ].…”

“…Plankton, as the foundation of the aquatic food web, exerts a profound influence on the growth and reproduction of other aquatic organisms, making it essential for the proper functioning of ecosystems and the provision of ecological services [ 28 , 29 ]. They are typically small, have a relatively short lifespan, and are sensitive to environmental changes [ 24 ]. Therefore, the Plankton-based Index of Biological Integrity (P-IBI), and the related parameters such as species composition, biomass, abundance, and plankton diversity are frequently employed to characterize the changes in water quality [ 30 ].…”

Assessment of the ecological sustainability of river basins based on the modified the ESHIPPOfish model on the example of the Velika Morava basin (Serbia, Central Balkans)

“…Theoretically, the ecological stability and health of the main river basin should be a cumulative reflection of ecological stability of its tributarities and catchments. Fish communities within the river basin represent high levels of the food chain and, as such, are good indicators of long-term changes within the basin; and thus its overall stability and environmental sustainability (Canning and Death, 2018;Huang et al, 2022). The fish community structure dynamics of the Danube River basin, too, both in general and especially in its delta-sea interface area accurately reveal the present and historical impact of various natural and anthropogenic stressors on aquatic ecosystems (Simonović et al, 2010;Bănăduc et al, 2014, Simić et al, 2014a.…”