Macroinvertebrate Metrics Research Articles

Comparing responses of macroinvertebrate metrics to increasing stress

Metrics characterizing the benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages in wadeable streams in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States were analyzed to explore the relative responses of the metrics to different types of anthropogenic stress. The data used in our study were collected by the US Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program from 1993 to 1996. Regression models were developed relating metric values at reference sites to natural sources of variability. These models were then used to predict reference values at test sites. Test site metric observations were scaled by subtracting the predicted reference value and dividing by the standard deviation of residuals at reference sites. Stressor–response relationships for each scaled metric were then estimated using generalized additive models. Metric responses to 4 groups of stressors (nutrient enrichment, habitat degradation, elevated metals concentrations, and elevated ion concentrations) were different. The proportional abundance of tolerant taxa was the most sensitive indicator of nutrient enrichment and habitat degradation, whereas Ephemeroptera richness was the most sensitive indicator of elevated metals or ion concentrations.

Integrated assessment of the impacts of agricultural drainwater in the Salinas River (California, USA)

The Salinas River is the largest of the three rivers that drain into the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary in central California. Large areas of this watershed are cultivated year-round in row crops and previous laboratory studies have demonstrated that acute toxicity of agricultural drainwater to Ceriodaphnia dubia is caused by the organophosphate (OP) pesticides chlorpyrifos and diazinon. In the current study, we used a combination of ecotoxicologic tools to investigate incidence of chemical contamination and toxicity in waters and sediments in the river downstream of a previously uncharacterized agricultural drainage creek system. Water column toxicity was investigated using a cladoceran C. dubia while sediment toxicity was investigated using an amphipod Hyalella azteca. Ecological impacts of drainwater were investigated using bioassessments of macroinvertebrate community structure. The results indicated that Salinas River water downstream of the agricultural drain is acutely toxic to Ceriodaphnia, and toxicity to this species was highly correlated with combined toxic units (TUs) of chlorpyrifos and diazinon. Laboratory tests were used to demonstrate that sediments in this system were acutely toxic to H. azteca, which is a resident genus. Macroinvertebrate community structure was moderately impacted downstream of the agricultural drain input. While the lowest macroinvertebrate abundances were measured at the station demonstrating the greatest water column and sediment toxicity and the highest concentrations of pesticides, macroinvertebrate metrics were more significantly correlated with bank vegetation cover than any other variable. Results of this study suggest that pesticide pollution is the likely cause of laboratory-measured toxicity in the Salinas River samples and that this factor may interact with other factors to impact the macroinvertebrate community in the system.

Development of Stream Macroinvertebrate Models That Predict Watershed and Local Stressors in Wisconsin

Clear, quantitative biological standards are needed for stream protection. Three hundred ninety-seven sites in Wisconsin were used to develop and test stream macroinvertebrate indices of biotic integrity (IBI) designed to provide such standards for the upper Midwestern United States. The IBI development approach was unique in 1) selecting base assemblage metrics a priori, 2) using watershed land cover and local habitat to quantify human influence, 3) weighting local- and water- shed-scale variables to characterize human influence in a biologically meaningful way, and 4) weight- ing macroinvertebrate metrics to characterize the assemblage in a way that detects human influence. Canonical correlation analysis provided IBI models by identifying the strongest relation between a set of macroinvertebrate metrics and a set of environmental condition measures. Metrics related to assemblage composition, structure, and function represented the macroinvertebrates, including or- ganic pollution tolerance, sediment tolerance, species richness, proportion or number of Ephemer- optera-Plecoptera-Trichoptera, Amphipoda, Isopoda, Diptera, and Chironomidae taxa, and propor- tion that feed by shredding, scraping, and gathering. Environmental condition measures included proportions of urban, forage crop, row crop, forest, open-water, and wetland land cover at the wa- tershed scale, and riparian condition, bed and bank condition, and habitat heterogeneity at the local scale. The Driftless Area and Northern Forest ecoregions were unique and warranted separate models, whereas the Central and Southeast ecoregions were merged into one model. Partial regressions iden- tified the relative influence of variables at the watershed and local scales. Model testing with inde- pendent data indicated the appropriateness of classification into the 3 regions, and that the IBIs could predict human influence well. The IBI models show promise for land-cover planning, pollution mon- itoring, and developing biological criteria for stream and watershed protection.

Analysis of macroinvertebrate assemblages in relation to environmental gradients among lotic habitats of California's Central Valley.

We assessed relationships between environmental characteristics and macroinvertebrate assemblages in lotic habitats of California's Central Valley with community metric and multivariate statistical approaches. Using canonical ordination analyses, we contrasted results when assemblage structure was assessed with macroinvertebrate metrics, as suggested for use in indices of biotic integrity, or with genera abundances. Our objectives were to identify metrics or taxa diagnostic of lotic environmental stressors and compare the capacity of these approaches to detect stressors in order to suggest how they might be used to diagnose stressors. For macroinvertebrate metrics, redundancy analysis (RDA) extracted three axes correlated with channel morphology and substrates. For genera abundances, canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) extracted two axes correlated with soluble salts and with channel morphology and substrates but did not separate these gradients onto different axes. Cluster analyses identified five RDA and five CCA site groups, which exhibited differences for environmental variables, metrics, or genera abundances, and agreement between the analyses in partitioning of sites was greater than if sites were partitioned randomly. These approaches differ in their ability to detect environmental stressors, because they measure different aspects of assemblages and would be complementary in design of new metrics diagnostic of stressors.

An Index of Biological Integrity for Northern Mid-Atlantic Slope Drainages

An index of biological integrity (IBI) was developed for streams in the Hudson, Delaware, and Susquehanna River drainages in the northeastern United States based on fish assemblage data from the Mohawk River drainage of New York. The original IBI, developed for streams in the U.S. Midwest, was modified to reflect the assemblage composition and structure present in Mid-Atlantic Slope drainages. We replaced several of the Midwestern IBI metrics and criteria scores because fishes common to the Midwest are absent from or poorly represented in the Northeast and because stream fish assemblages in the Northeast are less rich than those in the Midwest. For all replacement metrics we followed the ecology-based rationale used in the development of each of the metrics of the Midwestern IBI so that the basic theoretical underpinnings of the IBI remained unchanged. The validity of this modified IBI is demonstrated by examining the quality of streams in the Hudson, Delaware, and lower Susquehanna River basins. The relationships between the IBI and other indicators of environmental quality are examined using data on assemblages of fish and benthic macroinvertebrates and on chemical and physical stream characteristics obtained during 1993-2000 by the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water Quality Assessment Program in these three river basins. A principal components analysis (PCA) of chemical and physical variables from 27 sites resulted in an environmental quality gradient as the primary PCA axis (eigenvalue, 0.41). Principal components analysis site scores were significantly correlated with such benthic macroinvertebrate metrics as the percentage of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera taxa (Spearman R = −0.66, P < 0.001). Index of biological integrity scores for sites in these three river basins were significantly correlated with this environmental quality gradient (Spearman R = −0.78, P = 0.0001). The northern Mid-Atlantic Slope IBI appears to be sensitive to environmental degradation in all three of the river basins addressed in this study. Adjustment of metric scoring criteria may be warranted, depending on composition of fish species in streams in the study area and on the relative effort used in the collection of fish assemblage data.

In search of effective scales for stream management: does agroecoregion, watershed, or their intersection best explain the variance in stream macroinvertebrate communities?

Our lack of understanding of relationships between stream biotic communities and surrounding landscape conditions makes it difficult to determine the spatial scale at which management practices are best assessed. We investigated these relationships in the Minnesota River Basin, which is divided into major watersheds and agroecoregions which are based on soil type, geologic parent material, landscape slope steepness, and climatic factors affecting crop productivity. We collected macroinvertebrate and stream habitat data from 68 tributaries among three major watersheds and two agroecoregions. We tested the effectiveness of the two landscape classification systems (i.e., watershed, agroecoregion) in explaining variance in habitat and macroinvertebrate metrics, and analyzed the relative influence on macroinvertebrates of local habitat versus regional characteristics. Macroinvertebrate community composition was most strongly influenced by local habitat; the variance in habitat conditions was best explained at the scale of intersection of major watershed and agroecoregion (i.e., stream habitat conditions were most homogeneous within the physical regions of intersection of these two landscape classification systems). Our results are consistent with findings of other authors that most variation in macroinvertebrate community data from large agricultural catchments is attributable to local physical conditions. Our results are the first to test the hypothesis and demonstrate that the scale of intersection best explains these variances. The results suggest that management practices adjusted for both watershed and ecoregion characteristics, with the goal of improving physical habitat characteristics of local streams, may lead to better basin-wide water quality conditions and stream biological integrity.

Development of a Bird Integrity Index: Using Bird Assemblages as Indicators of Riparian Condition

We describe the development of a bird integrity index (BII) that uses bird assemblage information to assess human impacts on 13 stream reaches in the Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA. We used bird survey data to test 62 candidate metrics representing aspects of bird taxonomic richness, tolerance or intolerance to human disturbance, dietary preferences, foraging techniques, and nesting strategies that were affected positively or negatively by human activities. We evaluated the metric responsiveness by plotting each one against a measure of site disturbance that included aspects of land use/land cover, road density, riparian cover, and stream channel and substrate conditions. In addition, we eliminated imprecise and highly correlated (redundant) metrics, leaving 13 metrics for the final index. Individual metric scores ranged continuously from 0 to 10, and index scores were weighted to range from 0 to 100. Scores were calibrated using historical species information to set expectations for the number of species expected under minimally disturbed conditions. Site scores varied from 82 for the least disturbed stream reach to 8.5 for an urban site. We compared the bird integrity index site scores with the performance of other measures of biotic response developed during this study: a fish index of biointegrity (IBI) and two benthic macroinvertebrate metrics. The three assemblages agreed on the general level of disturbance; however, individual sites scored differently depending on specific indicator response to in-stream or riparian conditions. The bird integrity index appears to be a useful management and monitoring tool for assessing riparian integrity and communicating the results to the public. Used together with aquatic indicator response and watershed data, bird assemblage information contributes to a more complete picture of stream condition.

Do rare species have any place in multivariate analysis for bioassessment?

Cao et al. (2001) have recently published an assessment of the place of rare species in multivariate analyses associated with bioassessment. This assessment follows their earlier comments on this subject (Cao et al. 1998, Cao and Williams 1999) and criticism of their viewpoint (Marchant 1999). In their earlier comments Cao et al. (1998) claimed that elimination of rare species from data sets unduly biases the similarity measures used in multivariate analyses of community composition and results in an ‘‘unacceptable loss of ecological information’’. Marchant (1999) refuted this claim by noting that when rare taxa are eliminated from data sets the trends displayed by multivariate analyses are unaltered and that benthic data sets, both from freshwater and marine habitats, commonly contain much redundant information. If, as Cao et al. (1998) claimed, rare species are vital for multivariate analysis, then logically the less rare species and the common species must also be vital. In other words, all species are vital and, as Marchant (1999) noted, this amounts to saying that no redundancy exists. Such a claim is contrary to common experience. Cao et al. (2001) admitted that rare species may not be important when environmental gradients are strong. However, they suggested that rare species respond to different gradients, perhaps less important and subtle ones or those related to human impacts. They provided little evidence from the literature that such situations exist but they quoted a paper by Faith and Norris (1989) as supporting this view. Faith and Norris (1989) reanalyzed a study conducted in the La Trobe catchment of eastern Victoria, Australia (Metzeling et al. 1984, Marchant et al. 1985). Using all 269 taxa (mostly at genus or species level) Faith and Norris (1989) compared ordinations with and without rare taxa, as well as ordinations based solely on rare taxa (those with total abundances ,0.5% of the total abundance of all taxa). They showed that inclusion of rare taxa resulted in a greater number of sig-

Methods development and use of macroinvertebrates as indicators of ecological conditions for streams in the Mid-Atlantic Highlands Region.

The Mid-Atlantic Highlands Assessment (MAHA) included the sampling of macroinvertebrates from 424 wadeable stream sites to determine status and trends, biological conditions, and water quality in first through third order streams in the Mid-Atlantic Highlands Region (MAHR) of the United States in 1993-1995. We identified reference and impaired sites using water chemistry and habitat criteria and evaluated a set of candidate macroinvertebrate metrics using a stepwise process. This process examined several metric characteristics, including ability of metrics to discriminate reference and impaired sites, relative scope of impairment, correlations with chemical and habitat indicators of stream disturbance, redundancy with other metrics, and within-year variability. Metrics that performed well were compared with metrics currently being used by three states in the region: Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. Some of the metrics used by these states did not perform well when evaluated using regional data, while other metrics used by all three states in some form, specifically number of taxa, number of EPT taxa, and Hilsenhoff Biotic Index, performed well overall. Reasons for discrepancies between state and regional evaluations of metrics are explored. We also provide a set of metrics that, when used in combination, may provide a useful assessment of stream conditions in the MAHR.

The ecology of freshwater mollusks

Previous articleNext article No AccessBOOK REVIEWSThe ecology of freshwater mollusksArthur E. BoganArthur E. BoganNorth Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences Research Laboratory Raleigh, North Carolina Search for more articles by this author North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences Research Laboratory Raleigh, North CarolinaPDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Volume 20, Number 2June 2001 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.2307/1468326 Views: 13Total views on this site Citations: 2Citations are reported from Crossref Journal History This article was published in the Journal of the North American Benthological Society (1986-2011), which is continued by Freshwater Science (2012-present). © 2001 by The North American Benthological SocietyPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Julieta Capeletti, Mercedes R. Marchese, Florencia L. Zilli Evaluating macroinvertebrate metrics for ecological assessment of large saline rivers (Argentina), Environmental Science and Pollution Research 28, no.4646 (Oct 2021): 66464–66476.https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16559-7Beekam Kebede Olkeba, Pieter Boets, Seid Tiku Mereta, Mesfin Yeshigeta, Geremew Muleta Akessa, Argaw Ambelu, Peter L. M. Goethals Environmental and biotic factors affecting freshwater snail intermediate hosts in the Ethiopian Rift Valley region, Parasites & Vectors 13, no.11 (Jun 2020).https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-020-04163-6

PERSPECTIVES ON USE OF A MULTIMETRIC LAKE BIOASSESSMENT INTEGRITY INDEX USING BENTHIC MACROINVERTEBRATES

A lake bioassessment integrity index (LBII) derived from 12 macroinvertebrate metrics was used to evaluate the biological integrity of 19 lakes in five New England States (Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont). Of the 19 lakes classified according to temperature and size (warm, small; warm, large; cold, small; cold, large), 15 lakes had anthropogenic disturbances (including residential, agricultural, silvercultural, and fish stocking), and one minimally disturbed reference lake was selected from each category. The bioassessment index successfully ranked the biological integrity for 17 of the 19 lakes. Index scores of anthropogenically disturbed lakes were significantly higher (P <0.05) than index scores of reference lakes with little disturbance in each temperature and size category, indicating that the index may be useful in separating impacted from non-impacted lakes in the New England States.

Impacts of Rotational Grazing and Riparian Buffers on Physicochemical and Biological Characteristicsof Southeastern Minnesota, USA, Streams

We assessed the relationship between riparian management and stream quality along five southeastern Minnesota streams in 1995 and 1996. Specifically, we examined the effect of rotationally and continuously grazed pastures and different types of riparian buffer strips on water chemistry, physical habitat, benthic macroinvertebrates, and fish as indicators of stream quality. We collected data at 17 sites under different combinations of grazing and riparian management, using a longitudinal design on three streams and a paired watershed design on two others. Continuous and rotational grazing were compared along one longitudinal study stream and at the paired watershed. Riparian buffer management, fenced trees (wood buffer), fenced grass, and unfenced rotationally grazed areas were the focus along the two remaining longitudinal streams. Principal components analysis (PCA) of water chemistry, physical habitat, and biotic data indicated a local management effect. The ordinations separated continuous grazing from sites with rotational grazing and sites with wood buffers from those with grass buffers or rotationally grazed areas. Fecal coliform and turbidity were consistently higher at continuously grazed than rotationally grazed sites. Percent fines in the streambed were significantly higher at sites with wood buffers than grass and rotationally grazed areas, and canopy cover was similar at sites with wood and grass buffers. Benthic macroinvertebrate metrics were significant but were not consistent across grazing and riparian buffer management types. Fish density and abundance were related to riparian buffer type, rather than grazing practices. Our study has potentially important implications for stream restoration programs in the midwestern United States. Our comparisons suggest further consideration and study of a combination of grass and wood riparian buffer strips as midwestern stream management options, rather than universally installing wood buffers in every instance. RID="" ID="" The Unit is jointly sponsored by the US Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division; the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources; the University of Minnesota; and the Wildlife Management Institute.

Using historical biological data to evaluate status and trends in the Big Darby Creek watershed (Ohio, USA)

AbstractAssessment of watershed ecological status and trends is challenging for managers who lack randomly or consistently sampled data, or monitoring programs developed from a watershed perspective. This study investigated analytical approaches for assessment of status and trends using data collected by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency as part of state requirements for reporting stream quality and managing discharge permits. Fish and benthic macroinvertebrate metrics collected during three time periods (1979–1981, 1986–1989, 1990–1993) were analyzed for the mainstem of Big Darby Creek, a high‐quality warm‐water stream in central Ohio, USA. Analysis of variance of transformed metrics showed significant differences among time periods for six fish metrics. In addition, significant positive linear trends were observed for four metrics plus the index of biotic integrity score, and negative linear trends for two fish metrics. An analysis of a subset of sites paired by location and sampled over the three periods reflected findings using all available data for the mainstem. In particular, mean estimates were very similar between the reduced and full data sets, whereas standard error estimates were much greater in the reduced subset. Analysis of serial autocorrelation patterns among the fish metrics over the three time periods suggests changes in the nature of stressors over time. A comparison within the most recent time period showed significantly better condition for Big Darby Creek mainstem than for Hellbranch Run (the easternmost subwatershed), after adjusting for watershed size. The consistency of paired and nonrandomized results suggested that either type of data might be judiciously used for this watershed assessment. Results indicated that overall biological condition of the mainstem of the Big Darby Creek watershed has significantly improved since the early 1980s.

Evaluation of the Fixed-Count Method for Rapid Bioassessment Protocol III with Benthic Macroinvertebrate Metrics

BRIDGES is a recurring feature of J-NABS intended to provide a forum for the interchange of ideas and information between basic and applied researchers in benthic science. Articles in this series willfocus on topical research areas and linkages between basic and applied aspects of research, monitoring policy, and education. Readers with ideas for topics should contact Associate Editors, Nick Aumen and Marty Gurtz. This article extends a series of papers in J-NABS discussing Rapid Bioassessment Protocols for benthic macroinvertebrates, particularly with respect to increasing subsample size up to 300 organisms. Increasing subsample size results in changes to some RBP metrics, whereas others remain constant. Depending on which metrics are most important in any given situation, these results should be significant to resource managers and biologists designing sampling programs in the face of funding and personnel constraints.

The Dilemma of Sampling Streams for Macroinvertebrate Richness

The Dilemma of Sampling Streams for Macroinvertebrate Richness

Commentary on the Subsampling Procedures Used for Rapid Bioassessments

Commentary on the Subsampling Procedures Used for Rapid Bioassessments

Biological Monitoring: The Dilemma of Data Analysis

Biological Monitoring: The Dilemma of Data Analysis