Using Diatoms as Indicators of Ecological Conditions in Lotic Systems: A Regional Assessment

Pan, Yangdong; Stevenson, R. Jan; Hill, Brian H.; Herlihy, Alan T.; Collins, Gary B.

doi:10.2307/1467800

Cited by 247 publications

(162 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Although there are many assessment methods for river condition, it has been reported that sites in different conditions have not always been correctly discriminated by certain indices. For example, hydrochemical indices showed significant correlation with nutrients enrichment caused by watershed agriculture regime (McCormick and O'Dell, 1996;Pan et al, 1996), but they were not sensitive to damage of riparian vegetation or changes of hydrological rhythm (Barbour, 1995). Biodiversity indices, evenness, abundance of dominant species and chlorophyll a of benthic algae are widely used as bioindicators.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Epilithic Diatom Communities to Assess Ecological Condition of Xiangxi River System

Tang

Cai

Liu

2006

Environ Monit Assess

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Abstract. Assessment method for ecological condition of Xiangxi River system was studied by using 13 candidate metrics of epilithic diatom which can reflect conditions in pH, salinity, nitrogen uptake metabolism, oxygen requirements, saprobity, trophic state, morphological character and pollution tolerant capability etc. By one-way ANOVA, the metrics of relative abundance of acidobiontic algae (ACID), freshwater algae (FRESH), high oxygen requirement (HIGH-O), eutraphentic state (EUTRA) and mobile taxa (MOBILE) were suitable for distinguishing sites in different conditions. Then, the river diatom index (RDI) composed of these five metrics was used to evaluate ecological condition of the river. The results showed that the healthiest sites were in the Guanmenshan Natural Reserve (with the mean RDI of 79.73). The sites located in tributary of Jiuchong River also owned excellent state (mean RDI of 78.25). Mean RDI of another tributary -Gufu River and the main river were 70.85 and 68.45 respectively, and the unhealthiest tributary was Gaolan River (with mean RDI of 65.64). The mean RDI for all the 51 sites was 71.40. The competence of RDI was discussed with comparison of evaluation results of DAIpo and TDI, it can be concluded that multimetrics is more competent in assessment task.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Epilithic Diatom Communities to Assess Ecological Condition of Xiangxi River System

Tang

Cai

Liu

2006

Environ Monit Assess

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“…Numerous studies have reported that nutrients, particularly P, are important for algal growth (Pan et al 1996), and many TP WA models have been developed (Winter and Duthie 2000;Leland and Porter 2000;Ponader et al 2007). But in our study the model for TP fitted the data poorly.…”

Section: Benthic Algae As Indicators-inference Model Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial distribution of benthic algae in the Gangqu River, Shangrila, China

Tang

Cai

2007

Aquat Ecol

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This study consisted of sampling benthic algae at 32 sites in the Gangqu River, an important upstream tributary of the Yangtze River. Our aims were to characterize the benthic algae communities and relationships with environmental variables. Among the 162 taxa observed, Achnanthes linearis and Achnanthes lanceolata var. elliptica were the dominant species (17.10% and 14.30% of the total relative abundance, respectively). Major gradients and principal patterns of variation within the environmental variables were detected by principal component analysis (PCA). Then non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMS) divided all the sites into three groups, which were validated by multi-response permutation procedures (MRPP). Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) indicated that three environmental variables (TN, TDS, and TP) significantly affected the distribution of benthic algae.Weighted averaging regression and cross-calibration produced strong models for predicting TN and TDS concentration, which enabled selection of algae taxa as potentially sensitive indicators of certain TN and

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“…A similar approach was taken but only a 91 m radius was used for this analysis. We realize that stream ecosystems are continuous and that conditions at a particular site on a stream reflect the cumulative inputs upstream in the watershed, however studies have also shown that local environmental conditions have a strong influence on biological assemblages (Carter et al, 1996;Pan et al, 1996;Richards et al, 1997).…”

Section: Near-stream Land Use Characterizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Changes in diatom assemblages may result from both natural and anthropogenic factors (Pan et al, 1996). Diatom assemblages can change spatially and temporally.…”

Section: Temporal Patterns Of Diatom Assemblages Between the Urban Anmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Diatom Assemblages to Assess Urban Stream Conditions

Walker

Pan

2006

Hydrobiologia

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We characterized changes in diatom assemblages along an urban-to-rural gradient to assess impacts of urbanization on stream conditions. Diatoms, water chemistry, and physical variables of riffles at 19 urban and 28 rural stream sites were sampled and assessed during the summer base flow period. Near stream land use was characterized using GIS. In addition, one urban and one rural site were sampled monthly throughout a year to assess temporal variation of diatom assemblages between the urban and rural stream sites. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that the 1st ordination axis distinctly separated rural and urban sites. This axis was correlated with conductivity (r=0.75) and % near-stream commercial/ industrial land use (r=0.55). TWINSPAN classified all sites into four groups based on diatom assemblages. These diatom-based site groups were significantly different in water chemistry (e.g., conductivity, dissolved nutrients), physical habitat (e.g., % stream substrate as fines), and near-stream land use. CCA on the temporal diatom data set showed that diatom assemblages had high seasonal variation along the 2nd axis in both urban and rural sites, however, rural and urban sites were well separated along the 1st ordination axis. Our results suggest that changes in diatom assemblages respond to urban impacts on stream conditions.

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Using Diatoms as Indicators of Ecological Conditions in Lotic Systems: A Regional Assessment

Cited by 247 publications

References 30 publications

Using Epilithic Diatom Communities to Assess Ecological Condition of Xiangxi River System

Using Epilithic Diatom Communities to Assess Ecological Condition of Xiangxi River System

Spatial distribution of benthic algae in the Gangqu River, Shangrila, China

Using Diatom Assemblages to Assess Urban Stream Conditions

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