Improving biological indicators to better assess the condition of streams

Southerland, Mark T.; Rogers, G. M.; Kline, Matthew; Morgan, Raymond P.; Boward, Daniel M.; Kazyak, P.; Klauda, Ronald J.; Stranko, Scott A.

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2006.08.005

Cited by 60 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…This makes them useful as biological indicators. Unlike water quality measurements, which only provide an instantaneous assessment of river conditions, macroinvertebrate assemblages can be used to identify past disturbances and toxic effects that are not readily detected by chemical means (BARBOUR et al, 1999;SOUTHERLAND et al, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The B-IBI (benthic index of biotic integrity) is based on a series of structural and functional metrics of benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages, and thus helps quantify the impact of environmental deterioration (KERANS and KARR, 1994;SOUTHERLAND et al, 2007). Structural B-IBI components include species richness, habitat guilds, trophic structure, organismal abundance and biodiversity (SIMON and LYONS, 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Developing a Benthic Index of Biological Integrity and Some Relationships to Environmental Factors in the Subtropical Xiangxi River, China

Li¹,

Cai²,

Ye³

2010

International Review of Hydrobiology

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The aim of this study is to develop a benthic index of biotic integrity (B-IBI) to help understand how the increasing anthropogenic pressure may impact the subtropical Xiangxi River in China. Benthic macroinvertebrate and environmental surveys were conducted at 77 sites in early summer 2004. Each collection site was categorized as reference or impaired based on physical, chemical, biological, and land-use information. Six non-redundant metrics from 35 metrics were used to differentiate between reference and impaired sites. We selected six metrics for the final IBI. The scoring criteria of each metric were normalized based on the quadrisection and 0-10 scaling systems. Both scaling methods were used to assess the aquatic health of each site in the Xiangxi River watershed. The results showed that most sites were in fairly poor condition. Furthermore, we identified the relationship between B-IBI metrics, water-quality, and land-use variables with a principal component analysis. A composite of nutrients and land-use intensity explained most variances. These results suggest that the B-IBI may be a suitable method for assessing river conditions within the subtropical Xiangxi River in central China. IntroductionAquatic ecosystems, and their biological assemblages, continued to be degraded globally from anthropogenic activities in their watersheds (GANASAN and HUGHES, 1998;KARR, 1999). Part of the decline in water resources stems from insufficient consideration of their biological structure and function (KARR, 1999;STODDARD et al., 2006). Some factors have been reported which are linked to river degradation. Physical and chemical factors may be related to biological changes (MULLINS, 1999). Water quality may only partially reflect environmental impact (BOZZETTI and SCHULZ, 2004). Researchers increasingly include quantitative biological indicators (JOY and DEATH, 2004;ROSET et al., 2007). Biological indicators may reflect the intensity of anthropogenic stress and have been used as a tool in risk assessment and evaluation of human induced changes in freshwater ecosystem (KAMDEN-TOHAM and TEUGELS, 1999

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing a Benthic Index of Biological Integrity and Some Relationships to Environmental Factors in the Subtropical Xiangxi River, China

Li¹,

Cai²,

Ye³

2010

International Review of Hydrobiology

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“…One of the main constraints in the development of fish-based indices is the absence of a type-specific reference (Southerland et al, 2007). The reference condition is the pristine, undisturbed surface water having the same or similar abiotic characteristics as the river, lake or estuary to be assessed.…”

Section: The Absence Of Type-specific Reference Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A zone-specific fish-based biotic index as a management tool for the Zeeschelde estuary (Belgium)

Breine

Quataert

Stevens

et al. 2010

Marine Pollution Bulletin

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Keywords:Biotic integrity Fish-based index Meso-and oligohaline estuary Freshwater European Water Framework Directive Zeeschelde a b s t r a c t Fish-based indices monitor changes in surface waters and are a valuable aid in communication by summarising complex information about the environment (Harrison and Whitfield, 2004). A zone-specific fish-based multimetric estuarine index of biotic integrity (Z-EBI) was developed based on a 13 year time series of fish surveys from the Zeeschelde estuary (Belgium). Sites were pre-classified using indicators of anthropogenic impact. Metrics showing a monotone response with pressure classes were selected for further analysis. Thresholds for the good ecological potential (GEP) were defined from references. A modified trisection was applied for the other thresholds. The Z-EBI is defined by the average of the metric scores calculated over a one year period and translated into an ecological quality ratio (EQR). The indices integrate structural and functional qualities of the estuarine fish communities. The Z-EBI performances were successfully validated for habitat degradation in the various habitat zones.

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“…Both indices have become widely established tools for characterizing stream biological condition (Karr et al 1986;Barbour et al 1999;Southerland et al 2005). When modeling FIBI and BIBI indicators, the following key issues need to be addressed:…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, single metrics only measure a single feature of the community (e.g., number of taxa or diversity) and may not capture the effects of multiple stressors. Therefore, stream assessments usually compile several single metrics that are selected a priori to relate stream impairment to anthropogenic stress and then combine those metrics into a single multimetric index of biotic integrity ("IBI", Karr et al 1986;Schleiger 2000;Southerland et al 2005). These IBI indicators can then be statistically related to watershed-specific predictor variables using modeling approaches such as linear or ordinal regression, principal component analysis, or tree-based methods such as CART and random forests.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geoadditive regression modeling of stream biological condition

et al. 2010

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Indices of biotic integrity have become an established tool to quantify the condition of small non-tidal streams and their watersheds. To investigate the effects of watershed characteristics on stream biological condition, we present a new technique for regressing IBIs on watershed-specific explanatory variables. Since IBIs are typically evaluated on an ordinal scale, our method is based on the proportional odds model for ordinal outcomes. To avoid overfitting, we do not use classical maximum likelihood estimation but a component-wise functional gradient boosting approach. Because component-wise gradient boosting has an intrinsic mechanism for variable selection and model choice, determinants of biotic integrity can be identified. In addition, the method offers a relatively simple way to account for spatial correlation in ecological data. An analysis of the Maryland Biological Streams Survey shows that nonlinear effects of predictor variables on stream condition can be quantified while, in addition, accurate predictions of biological condition at unsurveyed locations are obtained.

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Improving biological indicators to better assess the condition of streams

Cited by 60 publications

References 17 publications

Developing a Benthic Index of Biological Integrity and Some Relationships to Environmental Factors in the Subtropical Xiangxi River, China

Developing a Benthic Index of Biological Integrity and Some Relationships to Environmental Factors in the Subtropical Xiangxi River, China

A zone-specific fish-based biotic index as a management tool for the Zeeschelde estuary (Belgium)

Geoadditive regression modeling of stream biological condition

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