A Biotic Index （∧） for Measuring the Ecological Quality of Mediterranean Lagoons

This study presents a biotic index （∧） for measuring environmental quality in the coastal lagoons of the Mediterranean. Index A considers combined anthropogenic （pollution） and natural factors （prohibitive salinity, anoxia, toxic blooms, isolation from sea, etc.） of deterioration. The method is based on the principle of indicator species and on the conceptual scheme developed by Frisoni et al. （1984） according to which there are six possible sub-assemblages （Zones） of benthic macrofauna, each indicating a different level of environmental quality. The procedure requires defining the relative extent of the Zones in the lagoon under study, and the number of species and the mean biomass of benthic macrofauna present in each. The three metrics are applied in the index formula and the resulting number from one to ten indicates increasing environmental quality. The authors have validated the index by applying it to two lagoons, Lesina and Varano （S.Adriatic, Italy）.

Using benthic macrofauna to assess environmental quality of four intertidal mudflats in Hong Kong and Shenzhen Coast

Intertidal zone is a significant wetland between land and ocean. It plays an important rolein maintaining local ecological balance. Both Mai Po and Futian intertidal mudflats are located in Shenzhen Bay and are important 'refueling' point along the East Asian/Australian flyway of migratory birds. The environmental quality of Mai Po and Futian mudflats have aroused great concern due to rapid economic developments in Hong Kong and Shenzhen in recent decades. Macroinfauna of Mai Po and Futian mudflats was investigated in December 2000 and the faunal data were used to assess their environmental quality. Two other mudflats, namely Ma Wan Typhoon Shelter (a more disturbed area) and Luk Keng intertidal mudflat (a place with relatively less human disturbance), were also sampled for macroinfauna and used as reference mudflats. Shannon - Weaver species diversity index (Isd), biotic coefficient (Cb) and macrofaunal pollution index (Imp) of the macrofauna community on four intertidal mudflats were used to determine their environmental quality. The results showed that Luk Keng intertidal mudflat was unpolluted, Mai Po and Futian mudflats were slightly polluted, and Ma Wan was moderately polluted. The pollution in Ma Wan Typhoon Shelter mainly came from various types of rubbish and fishing boats that disturbed the sediment, while pollution sources in Mai Po and Futian mudflats were discharges of industrial water, municipal sewage and from nearby rivers.

Assessing benthic ecological status in coastal area near Changjiang River estuary using AMBI and M-AMBI

The Changjiang(Yangtze)River estuary has been subject to a variety of anthropogenic pressures in recent decades.To assess the ecological health of the coastal benthic ecosystem adjacent to the estuary,three surveys were conducted in 2005,2009,and 2010.The AZTI's Marine Biotic Index(AMBI)and multivariate-AMBI(M-AMBI)were used to analyse the benthic ecological status of this coast.The AMBI indicate that the ecological status of the coast adjacent to the Changjiang River estuary was only slightly degraded in all 3 years.In contrast,the M-AMBI indicated that the ecological status was seriously degraded,a result that is most likely due to pollution and eutrophication induced by human activities.The assessment of the coast's ecological status by the AMBI was not in agreement with that of the M-AMBI at some stations because of lower biodiversity values at those sites.The analysis of the two indices integrated with abiotic parameters showed that the M-AMBI could be used as a suitable bio-indicator index to assess the benthic ecological status of the coast adjacent to the Changjiang River estuary.The reference conditions proposed for the coast of the Changjiang River estuary should be further evaluated in future studies.Designation of local species could also provide an important reference for Chinese waters.To improve the reliability of AMBI and M-AMBI,further research into the ecology of local species is required to understand their arrangement in ecological groups.

Characteristics of microfauna and their relationships with the performance of an activated sludge plant in China

The occurrence and abundance of the microfauna groups were compared with the physico-chemical and operational parameters of the Baoding Lugang Sewage Treatment Plant in China. Attached and crawling ciliates were the dominant groups of ciliates. Crawling ciliates and testate amoebae showed a strong association with effluent BOD5 （biochemical oxygen demand）. Therefore, these two groups are likely to be useful bioindicators since their number decreased as the process produced poor quality effluent. Testate amoebae also had significant negative correlations with effluent TN （total nitrogen）, NH4^＋-N, SS （suspended solids） and SVI （sludge volumetric index）, which means that this group of ciliates may be indicators of good performance of the activated sludge system. Carnivorous ciliates and flagellates had significant positive correlations with SVI, suggesting that these two groups may be indicators of bad settlement conditions of sludge. As identification of the microfauna species is difficult and time-consuming, we recommend using microfauna functional groups to evaluate the performance of the activated sludge system.

Spatiotemporal variations of benthic macrofaunal community in the Xiamen Amphioxus Nature Reserve, eastern South China Sea

In order to realize the spatiotemporal variations of benthic macrofaunal communities at the"Amphioxus Sand"habitat,six surveys including four seasons and three consecutive summers(i.e.,2014,2015 and 2016)were conducted in two core sites,i.e.,Huangcuo(HC)and Nanxian-Shibaxian(NX),in the Xiamen Amphioxus Nature Reserve in China.A total of 155 species of macrofauna were recorded,therein,polychaetes were dominant in terms of species number and density.Significant spatiotemporal variations of macrofaunal communities were observed.The density of polychaetes and the biomass of molluscs in the HC site were higher than those in the NX site.Macrofauna were more diverse and abundant in the cold seasons(winter and spring)than that in the warm seasons(summer and autumn).The annual variations of macrofaunal communities may be attributed to the changes in sediment texture among the three years of the survey.The variations in macrofaunal communities were mainly related to the proportion of polychaetes within the community.In addition,the density of amphioxus(include Branchiostoma japonicum and B.belcheri)was negatively correlated to that of polychaetes,bivalves,and crustaceans.Amphioxus was less likely to be found in the sediments with higher silt and clay content.Five biotic indices including Margaref’s richness index(d),Peilou’s evenness index(J′),Shannon-Wiener diversity index(H′),AMBI and M-AMBI were calculated in the present study.AMBI seems suitable in assessing benthic health at the"Amphioxus Sand"habitat,and a potential risk of ecological health in Xiamen Amphioxus Nature Reserve should be aware.

Influence of Geomorphology on Fish Fauna of a Small Mississippi Bluffline Stream

Fish were collected from 39 sites on the main channel and major tributaries of a highly erosive stream, Hotophia Creek. A total of 2,642 specimens representing 38 species were collected between 1986 through 2003. The bluntface shiner Cyprinella camura was the dominant species of fish and when grouped with other cyprinids accounted for 38.0% of the total numbers collected. By weight, Lepisosteusoculatus, Lepomismegalotis, lctiobusbubalus, and Lepomismacrochirus were the dominant species; accounting for 49.9% of the total catch. While more diminutive species such as cyprinids that might be subject to predation by large fish more frequently were found in shallow channels. Fishes with specific habitat requirement such as the pirate perch were found in the middle group of sites, that were disturbed by erosion process but that featured the necessary habitat requirements. Sensitive or intolerant species like the Yazoo darter, creek chubsucker and cyprinids in general were more frequently found in the undisturbed and habitat complex channels. This study supports the hypothesis that geomorphological stream stages are associated with specific communities of fishes.

Development of a phytoplankton-based index of biotic integrity for ecological health assessment in the Yangtze River

Background The application of index of biotic integrity(IBI)to evaluate river health can be an essential method for river ecosystem management.However,these types of methods were developed in small,low-order streams,and are therefore,infrequently applied to large rivers.To that end,phytoplankton communities and environmental variables were monitored in 30 sampling segments of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River,China during the wet(July-August)and dry(November-December)seasons in 2017-2018.We developed a phytoplankton-based index of biotic integrity(P-IBI)and used the index to assess the ecological health of the Yangtze River.Relationships among P-IBI,its component metrics,and environmental factors were analyzed across different seasons.Results Results obtained from the P-IBI indicated that the phytoplankton-based ecological health of the Yangtze River was rated as“good”during both seasons,with an overall better condition in the dry season.During the wet season,there were scattered river segments with P-IBI ratings of“fair”or below.Water quality and land use appeared to shape the patterns of P-IBI.In the wet season,P-IBI negatively correlated with total phosphorus,nitrate,total suspended solids,turbidity,conductivity,and dissolved oxygen.In the dry season,P-IBI positively correlated with total nitrogen,ammonium,and nitrite,and negatively correlated with water temperature.Conclusions The ecological health of the Yangtze River as reflected by the P-IBI exhibited spatial and temporal variability,with the effect of water quality being greater than that of local land use.This study indicated the importance of considering seasonal effects in detecting large river ecological health.These findings enhanced our understanding of the ecological health and characterized potential benchmarks for management of the Yangtze River.These findings also may be applicable to other large rivers elsewhere.

Assessing physical habitat structure and biological condition in eastern Amazonia stream sites

The advance of agricultural frontiers and industrialization in Amazonia has increased natural resource deterioration,resulting in degraded physical habitat structure and reduced local aquatic biodiversity.We evaluated the relative sensitivities of the Biological Monitoring Working Party(BMWP)and Average Score Per Taxon(ASPT)biotic indexes based on EPT(Ephemeroptera,Plecoptera,Trichoptera)versus EPT taxa richness,EPT abundance,and Shannon-Wiener EPT diversity for evaluating anthropogenic impacts on Amazonian streams.We expected that EPT-BMWP and EPT-ASPT would be more sensitive in detecting environmental changes on stream biota than the other measures.We sampled 32 stream sites in eastern Amazonia distributed along an environmental gradient resulting from different land use intensities.All the biological metrics except EPT-ASPT were significantly responsive to anthropogenic pressures;however,EPT taxa richness was slightly more responsive.

Evaluation of the ecological status with benthic indices in the coastal system： the case of Bohai Bay （China）

Based on biologic and environmental materials collected from coastal areas of Bohai Bay （China） in April, 2008, three biotic indices （AZTI＇s Marine Biotic Index （AMBI）, Shannon-Wiener Index and W-statistic） were applied together to evaluate the ecological status of the sampling area. The results showed a clear spatial gradient from a worse ecological status in the near-shore areas （especially around Haihe and Jiyun River Estuaries） to a better status in the offshore areas. While all the three indices could assist decision makers in visualizing spatial changes of organic pollutants in Bohai Bay, two indices, i. e., AMBI and Shannon-Wiener index, were effective in distinguishing sites from Haihe River Estuary, Jiyun River Estuary and other area. However, W-statistic can＇t tell the differences between estuaries and other area. It would be explained that organic pollutants and/or other environ- mental stresses in Bohai Bay were not strong enough to reduce the size ofmacrozoobenthos, which may cause both of the abundance and biomass curves crossed. To our knowledge, this is the first time that several benthic indices were used to assess the benthic ecological status in Bohai Bay, which gave the similar results. Furthermore, there is indication that the ecological status is related to excess input of wastewater along main rivers and outlets. In a word, AMBI, Shannon-Wiener Index and W-statistic could be able to assess the benthic ecological status of Bohai Bay under the organic pollutants pressure.