Looking for metrics to assess the trophic state of ponds. Macroinvertebrates and amphibians

Abstract

ABSTRACT1. Ponds are particularly rich habitats and play an essential role in the conservation of aquatic biodiversity. Therefore it is necessary to develop a specific method for evaluating their biological integrity, and particularly their water quality. Metrics have proved to be efficient for studies on running waters. Such an approach would be particularly useful for ponds and therefore needs to be tested.2. Eight metrics based on the richness of invertebrates and amphibians and 73 others derived from the biological/ecological trait categories linked to Coleoptera, Odonata and Gastropoda were tested for their potential as indicators of the trophic state of 94 ponds in Switzerland. The relationships between these metrics and the state of water eutrophication were explored.3. Four metrics based on richness responded to excessive nutrient levels in the colline vegetation belt. These were: aquatic Coleoptera species richness; the pooled species richness of aquatic Coleoptera, aquatic Gastropoda, adult Odonata and Amphibia (COGA); the family-level richness of macroinvertebrates and the family-level richness of the combined Megaloptera and Odonata groups (MO). At altitudes above 800 m (i.e. montane-subalpine and alpine vegetation belts), two to four other metrics were identified as pond water-quality indicators.4. Furthermore, many trait categories were sensitive to excessive nutrient levels. In the colline belt, 13 out of the 33 metrics derived from the biological/ecological traits responded to an increase in the trophic state (i.e. at least one metric for each of the three invertebrate groups tested). However, the patterns of the relationships are unclear and further investigations are required to identify and select the relevant metrics for an assessment of water quality.5. In conclusion, for the future assessment of pond quality, four metrics derived from richness could be taken into consideration. Nevertheless, further investigations are required to identify the biological/ecological traits that could be combined with these richness metrics.

The impact of climate-induced distributional changes on the validity of biological water quality metrics

“…Firstly, while this taxon appears to favour water bodies that contain relatively low levels of pollutants, a small number of species have been shown to tolerate relatively high levels of some substances (see Corbet, 2004 chapter 6 for a review). However, sensitivity to organic pollution is almost ubiquitous in the order and this makes them ideal as indicators of this kind of pollution (Menetrey et al, 2005).…”

“…However, the Odonata have also been identified as being sensitive to a range of pollutants and are used as indicators of water quality both within the BMWP system and elsewhere (Clark & Samways, 1996;Foote & Hornung, 2005;Menetrey et al, 2005). This study will test whether changes in the distributions of odonate families have varied sufficiently over the current period of warming as to introduce an error into calculations of water quality that are based on their presence/absence.…”

The effects of environmental warming on Odonata: a review

“…Potential shifts in the trophic state of ponds and lakes due to warming (see Mooij et al 2005 for a review) may also affect odonate persistence (Menetrey et al 2005) as well as the macrophytes on which they rely for refuges (Thompson 1987).…”

Environmental factors associated with biodiversity and the occurrence of rare, threatened, thermophilous species of aquatic beetles in the anthropogenic ponds of the Masurian Lake District

“…Rheophilous species are characteristic of less eutrophic waters and tyrphophilous species of polyhumic waters. Water beetles can be extremely sensitive to environmental factors and readily respond to changes (Foster et al 2009;Foster and Eyre 1992;Menetrey et al 2005;Giora et al 2010a, b). Some of the most essential habitat elements which affect the abundance, species richness and nature of a community are the type of substrate, size of the pond, plant successional stage and the diversity of macrophytes, which create a habitat occupied by aquatic beetles (Pakulnicka 2008;Pakulnicka and Nowakowski 2012) and other taxonomic groups (Buczyński and Pakulnicka 2000;Weigand and Stadler 2000;Lewin 2006; Lewin and Smoliński 2006;Jurkiewicz-Karnkowska 2011).…”