A multimetric index for assessment of aquatic ecosystem health based on macroinvertebrates for the Zio river basin in Togo

Benthic Macroinvertebrates as Ecological Indicators: Their Sensitivity to the Water Quality and Human Disturbances in a Tropical River

“…It is located in a tropical climate between the latitude 6 • 5 ′ and 7 • 18 ′ N (Figure 1) and includes three of the five ecoregions of Togo. The agriculture and other human activities described previously (Tampo et al, 2015(Tampo et al, , 2020Tampo, 2018) are more intensive in the lower reaches of the Zio River. The river crosses some villages and…”

“…Among the river components, aquatic macroinvertebrates are the most sensitive to anthropogenic pressures (Nessimian et al, 2008;Mereta et al, 2012;Agboola et al, 2020a,b;Ko et al, 2020). Macroinvertebrate responses to the change in aquatic ecosystem condition is universally recognized, and their responses are used in indices to monitor freshwater ecosystem for integrity, aiding in decision making in management (Richter et al, 2003;Kaboré et al, 2016;Agboola et al, 2019;Tampo et al, 2020;Edegbene et al, 2021). Macroinvertebrates are commonly used in assemblages for biomonitoring because they integrate various desirable characteristics, such as ubiquity, different levels of tolerance to perturbations, and sampling cost-effectiveness (Mary, 1999;Dickens and Graham, 2002;Hering et al, 2006;Resh, 2008;Kenney et al, 2009;Li et al, 2012;Kaboré, 2016;Agboola et al, 2019;Ko et al, 2020).…”

“…The freshwater macroinvertebrate taxa vary in response to organic pollution; and thus, their diversity and composition have been used to make inferences about pollution loads (Kenney et al, 2009;Wan Abdul Ghani et al, 2018;Tampo et al, 2020). Generally, in natural pristine rivers, high abundances and richness of species could be found (Barbour et al, 1996(Barbour et al, , 1999.…”

“…Despite the development and application of a variety of biotic indices, scores, and metrics based on macroinvertebrates for water quality and ecosystem health assessment in America and Europe, the literature provides little information on biological assessment and monitoring tools of freshwater ecosystems in Sub-Saharan Africa especially in West Africa (Adams, 1993;Dallas, 1997;Kaboré et al, 2016). In Togo, there is paucity of information on bioassessment of riverine ecosystems health, except for some works on hydrochemistry, macroinvertebrates as indicators, and multimetric index of the Zio River basin (MMIZB) carried out by Tampo et al (2015Tampo et al ( , 2020 and Tampo (2018). The measure of macroinvertebrate sensitivity at different taxonomic scales is however very important for bioassessment (Bailey et al, 2001;Schmidt-Kloiber and Nijboer, 2004;Marshall et al, 2006;Metzeling et al, 2006;Jones, 2008;Costas et al, 2018) and essential for developing a biomonitoring program in Togo.…”

Ecological status of a newly impounded sub-saharan reservoir based on benthic macroinvertebrates community (Burkina Faso, West Africa)

“…Habitats degradation, land uses, hydromodification and water pollution can be monitored by assessing benthic macroinvertebrates community structure, and indicators species (Flores and Zafalara, 2012;Kambwiri et al, 2014;Kaboré et al, 2016a;Patang et al, 2018). A large number of biotic metrics/indices have been developed in different countries (Chi et al, 2017;Borja et al, 2013;Dedieu et al, 2015;USEP, 2018;Tampo et al, 2020). However, in developing countries, and particularly in Western African region, the use of biological organisms for monitoring aquatic ecosystems health is still less documented (Kaboré et al, 2016a;Tanon et al, 2020).…”