Modification and Assessment of an Index of Biotic Integrity to Quantify Stream Quality in Southern Ontario

Abstract

A multivariate measure of stream quality, the Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI), was adapted to southern Ontario and calibrated to watershed land use on a variety of spatial scales. The fish fauna at 209 stream locations on 10 watersheds near Toronto, Ontario, was sampled with a backpack electrofisher in the summers of 1984 and 1985 to provide biological information for the IBI. Watershed urbanization, forest cover, and riparian forest were measured from 1:50,000 scale topographic maps and related to IBI estimates by linear regression. Of the biological measures tested, species richness, local indicator species (brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and Rhinichthys spp.), abundance of large piscivores, fish abundance, and incidence of blackspot disease were found to contribute significantly to IBI estimates. Variation in IBI estimates at the same location ranged from 0 to 8% within the sample season and from 0 to 24% between years. Linear models based on measures of watershed urbanization and forest cover accounted for 11–78% of the variation in IBI scores, depending on the spatial scale of the analysis. Significant IBI/land use relationships were found with whole-basin IBI estimates and for IBI estimates from individual stream reaches. Land use immediately upstream of sample stations was most strongly associated with stream quality as measured by the IBI.

Differences in the distributions of freshwater fishes and decapod crustaceans in urban and forested streams in Auckland, New Zealand

“…Results from MRPP showed that overall, urban streams possessed significantly different assemblages than reference streams (A = 0.169; P < 0.001). dIscussIon clear differences existed between species assem blages in urban areas and those in relatively unmodified (reference) areas in the Auckland region, and these differences agree with similar studies conducted elsewhere (e.g., Steedman 1988;Schueler & Galli 1992;wang et al 1997;boet et al 1999).…”

“…Especially noted is the low incidence of research involving freshwater fish communities. Those studies that have used fish as focal organisms have found declines in freshwater fish species richness (Klein 1979;boet et al 1999), species diversity (Klein 1979;Schueler & Galli 1992), fish Index of biotic integrity (ibi) (Steedman 1988;wang et al 1997), and increases in occurrence of invasive fish species (Boet et al 1999). These studies are New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 2009, Vol.…”

Large‐scale relationships between basin and riparian land cover and the ecological status of European rivers

“…Except for the work of Donohue, McGarrigle & Mills, (2006) in Ireland, we are not aware, within Europe, of models linking human activities (evaluated through land cover) to ecological status at a large or even a regional scale. In one of the pioneer works, Steedman, (1988) demonstrated positive relationships between the condition of the fish community and both the percentage of forest in the basin and the proportion of channel with riparian forest, and a strong negative relationship with urbanization in the catchment. He also emphasized the need for a more detailed evaluation of agricultural land use and streamside vegetation to improve predictive models.…”

Effets globaux d'une agglomération sur la typologie ichtyenne d'un fleuve : cas de la Garonne à Toulouse (France)

“…D'un autre côté, il a été rapporté des cas de pollution subléthale où la biodiversité est plus élevée qu'en absence de pollution (Connell 1978). De même, Steedman (1988) constate des abondances plus élevées dans les rivières enrichies en matière organique ou réchauffées. La situation actuelle de la recolonisation est celle d'une forte abondance assurée par quelques espèces.…”