The Reference Condition: A Comparison of Multimetric and Multivariate Approaches to Assess Water-Quality Impairment Using Benthic Macroinvertebrates

Reynoldson, Trefor B.; Norris, Richard H.; Resh, Vincent H.; Day, Kristin E.; Rosenberg, David M.

doi:10.2307/1468175

Cited by 543 publications

(468 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Biotic indices represent the 3rd approach to using multimetric indices to assess water quality and river ecosystem integrity (KARR et al, 1986;KERANS and KARR, 1994). Over the past decade, multimetric indices have been increasingly used to quantify anthropogenic impairments (KARR et al, 1986;REYNOLDSON et al, 1997).…”

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%

“…Reference sites are the segments of water bodies that reflect natural conditions and are least affected by anthropogenic activities (REYNOLDSON et al, 1997). Most rivers exhibit variations in different sections especially from upstream to downstream (QADIR and MALIK, 2009).…”

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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“…Generally, the biotic indices were based on the taxa tolerances to organic pollution (Alba Tercedor & Sanchez Ortega, 1988;Wright et al, 1993) and water quality assessment was only based on pollution level. However, a new concept of water monitoring was recently introduced according to the American experience (Barbour et al, 1996(Barbour et al, , 1998Cairns, 2002;Reynolds, 1997), as a frame in the implementation of the Water Framework Directive in Europe (2000/60/CE). In this new concept, the target is ecological quality (based on the ecosystem), rather than water quality (based on human use).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment methodology for southern siliceous basins in Portugal

et al. 2004

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A sampling programme was developed in three stream types, of siliceous geology, from the south of Portugal (small and mid-sized lowland streams and small-sized median altitude streams). The samples were taken according to the AQEM site protocol procedure, keeping transport and depositional habitats samples separated. In each stream type, at least 13 sites were studied over a gradient of organic pollution (pre-classification). The benthic macroinvertebrates were identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level. A Detrended Correspondence Analysis of macroinvertebrate communities identified a gradient of organic pollution strongly related to the first axis. This ordination allowed the establishment of classes of organic pollution using the Kmeans software (post-classification). Metrics based on the macroinvertebrate communities (tolerance, richness, composition and trophic structure) were computed and tested for correlation with the gradient of organic pollution (first axis of DCA). Most of the selected metrics were able to discriminate the four quality classes (high, good, moderate and poor) of ecological status. A multimetric index, integrating ASPT index, Trichoptera families and percentage of Gasteropoda, Oligochaeta and Diptera, is proposed to assess the ecological status of Portuguese southern siliceous basins.

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“…Of the remaining 16 papers, 10 built on Wright et al (1984) and described aspects or refinements of the modeling approach, 3 explored aspects of the regionalization or typology approaches to setting reference expectations (Hughes et al 1986, Hawkins et al 2000a 1 ; Fig. 1), 1 treated the overall challenges in identifying reference conditions and applying them in a uniform manner (Stoddard et al 2006), 1 paper described how paleolimnological data could be used in lakes to identify historical conditions for individual sites (Dixit et al 1999), and 1 compared the performance of different types of biotic indices (Reynoldson et al 1997; Fig. 1).…”

Section: Results Of Bibliographic Analyses Of Ecological Papersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…'', and ''If (subregionalization is impossible), reference sites for each type of natural gradient, substrate, or water quality should be selected.'' The fact that comparisons of biological assessment methods have been confounded by mixing the approach to predicting reference conditions with the type of index used (e.g., Reynoldson et al 1997, Hawkins et al 2010 is perhaps the main reason that consensus did not emerge from the index wars of the mid 1990s and early 2000s regarding how best to conduct ecological assessments (e.g., Gerritsen 1995, Norris 1995, Karr and Chu 2000, Norris and Hawkins 2000. Recent studies have demonstrated that the modeling approach is effective when applied to the development of MMIs (e.g., Oberdorff et al 2001 [ Fig.…”

Section: A Brief History Of Approaches Used To Estimate Ecological Bementioning

confidence: 99%

Theoretical predictions of observed to expected ratios in RIVPACS-type predictive model assessments of stream biological condition

Yuan

2006

Journal of the North American Benthological Society

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The Reference Condition: A Comparison of Multimetric and Multivariate Approaches to Assess Water-Quality Impairment Using Benthic Macroinvertebrates

Cited by 543 publications

References 20 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

Assessment methodology for southern siliceous basins in Portugal

Theoretical predictions of observed to expected ratios in RIVPACS-type predictive model assessments of stream biological condition

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