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This study aimed to evaluate benthic macroinvertebrates assemblages using the application of ecological indices in the Rawang sub-basin of the Selangor River with reference to determining the impacts of aquaculture practices on benthic macroinvertebrates. In total, seven sampling sites were selected, namely Guntong (SR1), Guntong’s tributaries (SR2, control site), Kuang (SR3 and SR7), Gong (SR4), Buaya (SR5) and Serendah (SR6) Rivers. Sites were selected using a random sampling technique and the accessibility and proximity to aquaculture farms. Macroinvertebrates were sampled from April 2019 to March 2020 using an aquatic kick net, a hand spade, and a D-frame dip net. Water samples were also taken. Twenty-seven families belonging to the Annelida, Mollusca and Athropoda phyla were identified using taxonomic keys. Tubificidae was found to be the most dominant family (36.79%) followed by Chironomidae (28.84%). The highest number of individuals from family Tubificidae was recorded in Gong River, where effluent was discharged from an aquaculture farm. The total abundance of benthic macroinvertebrates increased with increased proximity to the aquaculture farm. Based on Biological Monitoring Working Party score value, the water quality of sampling sites in close proximity to the aquaculture farm was polluted as compared to the control location. Family Biotic Index score showed that all sites were substantially polluted with organic pollution, with the control site being much less polluted. In conclusion, benthic macroinvertebrates assemblage was affected by effluent originating from aquaculture farm outlets. It is therefore necessary to conduct aquaculture farming using methods that are deemed to be environmentally friendly.

This study aimed to determine whether a swimming-type (planktonic and epiphytic) zooplankton group compared with the taxonomic group is appropriate to indicate the environmental changes caused by dredging. Water sampling in the littoral zone was conducted from 2007 to 2015, including the dredging period from October 2010 to June 2012. The water quality, number of species, population densities, and biotic indices were compared for both dredging period and grouping type. Nine of 11 water quality parameters were changed by the dredging period. The results showed that the rotifer and planktonic groups were consistently dominant. In all groups, population density was the lowest during the dredging period. After dredging, both the number of species and population density increased only in the epiphytic group. The dominant species, including Polyarthra vulgaris, Brachionus calyciflorus, B. rubens, and Bosmina longirostris, were included in the planktonic group for 9 years. Evenness did not differ, but diversity increased after the dredging period. This study showed that zooplankton could be used as a supplemental biological assessment tool for evaluating the impact of river dredging.

Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding can rapidly characterize the composition and diversity of benthic communities, thus it has high potential utility for routine assessments of benthic impacts of marine finfish farming. In this study, 126 sediment grab samples from 42 stations were collected at six salmon farms in British Columbia, Canada. Benthic community changes were assessed by both eDNA metabarcoding of metazoans and macrofaunal polychaete surveys. The latter was done by analysing 11,466 individuals using a combination of morphology-based taxonomy and DNA barcoding. Study objectives were to: (i) compare biotic signals associated with benthic impacts of salmon farming in the two data sources, and (ii) identify potential eDNA indicators to facilitate monitoring in Canada. Alpha diversity parameters were consistently reduced near fish cage edge and negatively correlated with pore-water sulphide concentration, with coefficients ranging from -0.62 to -0.48. Although Polychaeta are a common indicator group, the negative correlation with pore-water sulphide concentration was much stronger for Nematoda OTU richness (correlation coefficient: -0.86) than for Polychaeta (correlation coefficient: -0.38). Presence/absence of Capitella generally agreed well between the two methods despite that they differed in the volume of sediments sampled and the molecular marker used. Multiple approaches were used to identify OTUs related to organic enrichment statuses. We demonstrate that eDNA metabarcoding generates biotic signals that could be leveraged for environmental assessment of benthic impacts of fish farms in multiple ways: both alpha diversity and Nematoda OTU richness could be used to assess the spatial extent of impact, and OTUs related to organic enrichment could be used to develop local biotic indices.

The practices commonly known as ‘Water Sensitive Design’, or ‘Low Impact Urban Design and Development’, provide a comprehensive package of practices, (building blocks), that respect and work with the natural water cycle and enhance biodiversity. Much previous research has focussed on determining the sustainability gains achieved by the implementation of a narrow range of closely related techniques, such as the installation of at-source devices for stormwater retention and treatment. Other research has investigated the gains for the health of an ecosystem from the reduction of impervious surfaces, or from riparian revegetation, or from the clustering together of buildings. Relationships between these practices and techniques have been observed, but urban developers continue to implement practices such as these in isolation whereas it is suspected that the aquatic ecosystems need all of the practices and techniques to be implemented simultaneously. Without the synchrony of simultaneous implementation, degradation of the ecosystems may still occur and the real cause of it may be missed. The purpose of this research is to monitor, using a biotic index, the ecosystem responses of streams to the simultaneous implementation of as many as possible of these practices (the building blocks) at two different urban densities in paired sub-catchment studies within the Hauraki Gulf catchment of Auckland, New Zealand. Significant differences in the health of the ecosystems of the streams between some treatment and control sub-catchments are observed at both densities. The failure to apply all the techniques (building block methods), or to apply them appropriately in some of the case study sub-catchments, demonstrates a consequent degradation of the ecosystems of the streams that is expected to have negative consequences, not only for local streams but for the marine receiving environment., Environmental Science; Ecology; Aquatic Ecology; Environmental Engineering; Environmental Health; Urbanization; Water Pollution; Urban Planning; water sensitive design; paired catchments; macroinvertebrate community index; green infrastructure; conservation subdivision; urban form

The Rwenzori region in Uganda, a global biodiversity hotspot, is currently undergoing exponential economic and population growth, which puts continuous stress on its freshwater ecosystems. In Sub-Saharan Africa, biomonitoring campaigns using region-specific biotic indices is limited, particularly in Uganda. In this research, we present the Rwenzori Score (RS), a new macroinvertebrate-based biotic index developed to specifically assess the aquatic health of Rwenzori streams and rivers. We collected and measured both biological and physicochemical variables and identified 34,202 macroinvertebrates, belonging to 64 different taxa. The RS was developed in two steps. First, using canonical ordination, we identified chemical variables that correlated significantly with gradients in macroinvertebrate assemblage distribution and diversity. Second, based on selected variables and weighted averages, we determined specific family indicator values and assigned pollution tolerance values (varying from 1: tolerant, to 10: sensitive) to a family. Finally, we established four water quality classes: poor, fair, good, and excellent. The RS is highly correlated with the Average Score Per Taxon System (p &lt, 0.05), a well-known and widely used biotic index. The RS has 5 unique taxa that are not included in other regional indices. In this regard, the development of the RS is a beneficial tool for tailor-made biomonitoring that can contribute to the sustainable development of the Rwenzori stream and river basins.

The main objective of the present study was to investigate the diversity and abundance of macrobenthos in the Dehbar, Zoshk and Kang rivers in Iran. Sampling was carried out at 10 stations for three seasons with 45 days intervals using a Surber sampler. Simpson, Shannon-Weiner and Margalef diversity indices, as well as biological indices for Biological Monitoring Working Party (BMWP), Average Score Per Taxon (ASPT), Hilsenhoff Family Biotic Index (HFBI), and Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera (EPT) were calculated at all stations. In this study, a total of 21 families of macrobenthos in seven orders were identified. Organisms in the Baetidae family were dominant at stations 1D, 2D and 6D in the Dehbar River and at stations 1Z and 1 K in the Zoshk and Kang rivers, respectively. The greatest diversity of macrobenthos was observed in the spring. There was significant correlation between the three biological indices. In general, water quality of the rivers at the upstream stations was not good. The diversity indices decreased from upstream to downstream, and the biological indices showed a similar reduction in water quality from upstream to downstream.

The complexity of evaluating the quality of an aquatic environment with its numerous variables has resulted in several quality indexes to synthesize all information in a single value. However, most of these indexes are based on few environmental variables, losing information from other relevant variables. This article presents a new model capable of representing the quality level of a tropical oligo-mesotrophic reservoir on a numerical scale, considering the subjectivity implicit in the concept of quality, and involving several physical, chemical and biological variables. The proposed model, called "Fuzzy Indices for Water Quality Assessment and Biotics" (FUZZY-WBQAI), is based on fuzzy inference systems, providing a way to deal with the uncertainty between the quality categories. A computational tool was developed, which automatically assesses the quality of water, considering different methodologies that depend on the stratification conditions and the longitudinal zone of the reservoir. The model calculates two indices: one for water quality and one biotic that uses metrics from the fish assembly. The model was effective in revealing the decrease in water quality in summer months with higher temperature and precipitation. The effect of the mixture of the stratified reservoir in winter in decreasing the water quality in an area of fish cultivation was highlighted. The biotic index was sensitive to spatial changes in the environmental quality of the reservoir. The results were considered satisfactory, in agreement with the specialized knowledge, and can provide a rapid diagnosis of water conditions in oligo-mesotrophic reservoirs in the tropics. Resumo A complexidade de avaliar a qualidade de um ambiente aquático com suas inúmeras variáveis resultou na criação de vários índices de qualidade para sintetizar todas as informações em um único valor. No entanto, a maioria desses índices é baseada em poucas variáveis, perdendo informações de outras variáveis relevantes. Este artigo apresenta um novo modelo capaz de representar o nível de qualidade de um reservatório oligo-mesotrófico tropical em escala numérica, considerando a subjetividade implícita no conceito de qualidade e envolvendo diversas variáveis físicas, químicas e biológicas. O modelo proposto, denominado "Índices Fuzzy de Avaliação da Qualidade da Água e Biótica" (FUZZY-WBQAI), é baseado em sistemas de inferência fuzzy, fornecendo uma forma de lidar com a incerteza entre as categorias de qualidade. Uma ferramenta computacional foi elaborada, a qual avalia automaticamente a qualidade da água, considerando diferentes metodologias que dependem das condições de estratificação e zona longitudinal do reservatório. O modelo calcula dois índices: um de qualidade da água e um biótico que utiliza métricas da assembleia de peixes. O modelo foi eficaz ao revelar a diminuição da qualidade da água nos meses de verão com temperatura e precipitação mais elevadas. Destacou-se o efeito da mistura do reservatório estratificado no inverno sobre a diminuição da qualidade da água em área de cultivo de peixes. O índice biótico foi sensível a mudanças espaciais na qualidade ambiental do reservatório. Os resultados foram considerados satisfatórios, concordando com o conhecimento especializado, e podem propiciar diagnósticos rápidos das condições da água em reservatórios oligo-mesotróficos nos trópicos.

Marine sediments contain a high diversity of micro- and macro-organisms which are important in the functioning of biogeochemical cycles. Traditionally, anthropogenic perturbation has been investigated by identifying macro-organism responses along gradients. Environmental DNA (eDNA) analyses have recently been advocated as a rapid and cost-effective approach to measuring ecological impacts and efforts are underway to incorporate eDNA tools into monitoring. Before these methods can replace or complement existing methods, robustness and repeatability of each analytical step has to be demonstrated. One area that requires further investigation is the selection of sediment DNA extraction method. Environmental DNA sediment samples were obtained along a disturbance gradient adjacent to a Chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) salmon farm in Otanerau Bay, New Zealand. DNA was extracted using four extraction kits (Qiagen DNeasy PowerSoil, Qiagen DNeasy PowerSoil Pro, Qiagen RNeasy PowerSoil Total RNA/DNA extraction/elution and Favorgen FavorPrep Soil DNA Isolation Midi Kit) and three sediment volumes (0.25, 2, and 5 g). Prokaryotic and eukaryotic communities were amplified using primers targeting the 16S and 18S ribosomal RNA genes, respectively, and were sequenced on an Illumina MiSeq. Diversity and community composition estimates were obtained from each extraction kit, as well as their relative performance in established metabarcoding biotic indices. Differences were observed in the quality and quantity of the extracted DNA amongst kits with the two Qiagen DNeasy PowerSoil kits performing best. Significant differences were observed in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes (p < 0.001) richness among kits. A small proportion of amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) were shared amongst the kits (~3%) although these shared ASVs accounted for the majority of sequence reads (prokaryotes: 59.9%, eukaryotes: 67.2%). Differences were observed in the richness and relative abundance of taxonomic classes revealed with each kit. Multivariate analysis showed that there was a significant interaction between “distance” from the farm and “kit” in explaining the composition of the communities, with the distance from the farm being a stronger determinant of community composition. Comparison of the kits against the bacterial and eukaryotic metabarcoding biotic index suggested that all kits showed similar patterns along the environmental gradient. Overall, we advocate for the use of Qiagen DNeasy PowerSoil kits for use when characterizing prokaryotic and eukaryotic eDNA from marine farm sediments. We base this conclusion on the higher DNA quality values and richness achieved with these kits compared to the other kits/amounts investigated in this study. The additional advantage of the PowerSoil Kits is that DNA extractions can be performed using an extractor robot, offering additional standardization and reproducibility of results.

(IF 4.95; Q1); International audience; The “Rade de Cherbourg” (RdC, Cotentin) hosts the only marine salmon fish farm along the French coasts. High hydrodynamic regime would limit, there, organic matter (OM) accumulation directly under the cages, and enhance the transport of OM in the surrounding of the cages. This study was aiming at (1) monitoring the impact of a salmon fish farm on ecological quality statuses (EcoQs) of the RdC based on a benthic foraminiferal biotic index, (2) comparing EcoQs assessment results between foraminifera and macrofauna, and (3) in fine assessing the potential for benthic foraminifera to become an alternate biological quality element. In 2014 and 2015, bottom sediments of the RdC were sampled at 13 stations under and outside the farm for sedimentary (grain size and OM), and living foraminiferal and macrofaunal analyses. For benthic foraminifera, Exp(H’bc) was used to determine EcoQs, while H’, AMBI and BO2A indices were used for benthic macrofauna. Rank-frequency distributions (RFDs) were calculated for both groups. Ecological quality statuses based on foraminifera and macrofauna indicated a moderate degradation of the environmental conditions, shifting from excellent outside the farm to poor under the cages for foraminifera and from excellent to moderate for macrofauna. This study showed that benthic foraminifera are as reliable as macrofauna to assess EcoQs in the RdC. It offers interesting perspectives to monitor the health of marine systems based on benthic foraminifera. Furthermore, results obtained with RFDs suggested that this approach should be considered in the assessment of the good environmental status within the European marine strategic framework directive. Finally, diversity proved to be efficient in monitoring the health of the RdC, suggesting that it should not be set aside for the benefit of sensitivity-based indices.

This study was carried out in Kelebek, which is the most important stream in Gediz River Basin, Turkey, to determine water quality by using macroinvertebrate-based metrics and physicochemial variables. In addition, we also aimed to investigate the effects of anthropogenic pressure and dam construction on stream macroinvertebrates during the study period. In this study, following biotic indices are used: Saprobi Index (SI), Biological Monitoring Working Party (BMWP), Average Score per Taxon (ASPT), Family Biotic Index (FBI), Belgian Biotic Index (BBI), as well as diversity indices: Shannon-Weaver index (SWDI), Simpsons index (SDI) and Margalef index (MDI). Collection of macroinvertebrate samples and the physicochemical measurements were carried out monthly for a year. As a result of the identification, the most dominant macroinverterate group was Insecta. Our results show the presence of 9 taxonomic group in the stream which belong to nine groups: Oligochaeta, Mollusca, Crustacea, Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera, Odonata, Coleoptera, Diptera. Canonical correlation analysis (CCA) indicates importance of physicochemial variables in the distribution of different macroinvertebrates groups (total variance 88%), species (total variance 86.2%) and biotic indices (total variance 88.2%). The water quality along the Kelebek Stream show variation from good class in station #1, #2 and #5, to moderate in station #3 and #4. We conclude that BMWP (Original), BMWP (Spanish), BMWP (Greek) and ASPT indices are suitable for assessing stream health by macroinvertebrates.

Pseudoxiphophorus bimaculatus is an invasive species widely spread throughout freshwater ecosystems in central Mexico, for that reason we described its trophic strategy into a gradient of environmental quality. We sampled individuals of P. bimaculatus at eight sites located in the Lerma-Chapala and Pánuco River Basins during dry season. These basins have been impacted by industrialization and urbanization processes, but are considered as water reserves in México. To evaluate the environmental quality of the river, we applied the Visual-based Habitat Assessment, the Index of Biological Integrity and the Family-level Biotic Index. We assessed the trophic guild, the diet width, the omnivory level, and the diet selectivity. We also explored the relation of trophic strategies with the habitat condition. We captured a total of 202 individuals of P. bimaculatus from 10 to 67 mm of SL, finding a total of 24 food items. The diet of P. bimaculatus was composed of terrestrial, aquatic insects and bony fish. Pseudoxiphophorus bimaculatus in some sites can feed on different trophic levels, in other it is a specialist and secondary consumer. We found that P. bimaculatus changes its diet according the alterations in the habitat structure, water quality, and biotic integrity. Moreover, this invasive species can endure changes in the trophic web and food availability. RESUMEN Pseudoxiphophorus bimaculatus es una especie invasora ampliamente propagada en los ecosistemas de agua dulce del centro de México, por eso se describe su estrategia trófica en un gradiente de calidad ambiental. Se muestrearon individuos de P. bimaculatus en ocho sitios localizados en las cuencas de los Ríos Lerma-Chapala y Pánuco durante la temporada de secas. Estas cuencas se han visto afectadas por los procesos de industrialización y urbanización, pero la Comisión Nacional del Agua las considera reservas de agua en México. Para evaluar las condiciones ambientales de las cuencas, aplicamos el Índice de Integridad Biótica basado y el Índice Biótico basado en Familias. Evaluamos el gremio trófico, la amplitud de la dieta y la selectividad de la dieta de P. bimaculatus en sitios con diferente calidad ambiental. Además, exploramos la relación de las estrategias tróficas con la condición del hábitat. Capturamos un total de 202 individuos de P. bimaculatus de 10 a 67 mm de LP, encontrando un total de 24 artículos alimenticios. La dieta de P. bimaculatus está compuesta de insectos terrestres y acuáticos y restos óseos de peces. Pseudoxiphophorus bimaculatus en algunos sitios puede alimentarse de diferentes niveles tróficos, en otros, es especialista y consumidor secundario. Encontramos que P. bimaculatus cambia su dieta acorde con alteraciones en la estructura del hábitat, la calidad del agua y la integridad biótica. Además, esta especie invasora puede tolerar cambios en la red trófica y la disponibilidad de alimento.

Water is a basic natural resource for life and the sustainable development of society. Methods to assess water quality in freshwater ecosystems based on environmental quality bioindicators have proven to be low cost, reliable, and can be adapted to ecosystems with well-defined structures. The objective of this paper is to propose an interdisciplinary approach for the assessment of water quality in freshwater ecosystems through bioindicators. From the presence/absence of bioindicator organisms and their sensitivity/tolerance to environmental stress, we constructed a bipartite network, G. In this direction, we propose a new method that combines two research approaches, Graph Theory and Random Matrix Theory (RMT). Through the topological properties of the graph G, we introduce a topological index, called J P ( G ) , to evaluate the water quality, and we study its properties and relationships with known indices, such as Biological Monitoring Working Party ( B M W P ) and Shannon diversity ( H &prime, ). Furthermore, we perform a scaling analysis of random bipartite networks with already specialized parameters for our case study. We validate our proposal for its application in the reservoir of Gu&aacute, jaro, Colombia. The results obtained allow us to infer that the proposed techniques are useful for the study of water quality, since they detect significant changes in the ecosystem.

Biotic indices are tools to assess the ecological status of marine systems, and can be based on different metrics (such as ecological groups, specific diversity). The present study applies five biotic indices based on living (stained) benthic foraminiferal assemblages to assess ecological conditions in a wide area of the Mediterranean Sea in the heavily polluted Gulf of Gabes and along the western and eastern coasts of the Djerba Island, with the eastern coast considered as “pristine”. The applied indices are based on epiphytic foraminifera e.g., the “long versus short life span” index (ILS) and the modified FoRAM-Index (FI’), benthic foraminiferal assemblage composition and diversity, e.g., the Tolerant Species index (TSstd), the Foram Stress Index (FSI), the diversity Index (exp(H’bc)) and the newly developed Foram-AZTI Marine Biotic Index (Foram-AMBI). This latter index was tested using species of benthic foraminifera presently assigned to ecological groups in the Mediterranean Sea. All indices confirm good ecological conditions eastern of Djerba. The FI’ and ILS, % TSstd, FSI, indicate a severe anthropogenic impact especially in the central part of the Gulf of Gabes, next to the phosphate industry of Skhira and along the western coast of Djerba Island and confirm direct observations and geochemical data. The indices based on epiphytic foraminifera seem to better reflect actual environmental conditions in the investigated region because of the extended Posidonia oceanica meadow in the area. The exp(H’bc) reflects lower degrees of pollution. The application of the Foram-AMBI index presents limitations that prevent its current use. It strongly underestimates the pollution impact along the Tunisian coast, and additional work is needed to increase the number of species attributed to ecological groups and to possibly modify the coefficients to be used in its equation.

The aim of this study is to examine the trophic state of three reservoirs located in the northwest of Algeria based on the physicochemistry of water and the community of rotifers. The measurements of the physicochemical variables were carried out monthly over a 2-year period from December 2015 to November 2017. The rotifers were sampled simultaneously. Abiotic and biotic indices such as the Carlson index, QB/T, and TSIROT were determined in order to classify the three reservoirs according to their trophic state. Thus, the diversity indices of Shannon-Wiener (H′), Margalef richness index (D), Pielou evenness (J′), and the density were calculated in order to study the structure of the rotifers. The Kruskal-Wallis test confirmed the heterogeneity of the physicochemical quality (P value

Channelization can have far-reaching and long-term impacts on stream ecology. In this study, we demonstrate that channelization is associated with lower stream quality as measured by macroinvertebrate bioindicators when compared to unchannelized streams. Citizen scientists collected the data for this study between 1995 and 2014, performing 3021 sampling events during the months of May and June across 567 Illinois streams. We found significantly lower taxa richness, EPT taxa richness, and macroinvertebrate biotic index values in channelized sites. Our findings also show prevalent siltation in channelized sites that is likely negatively affecting macroinvertebrates, along with a possible lower availability of quality habitat. We also measured stream velocity and found that average velocity did not differ between our channelized and unchannelized sites. Our findings suggest stream velocity was not a driving factor in determining the differences in macroinvertebrate assemblages, although we cannot comment on the possible change in velocity from pre to post channelization at each site. This study allows for a large dataset that covers diverse streams across the entire state of Illinois. Our work provides example and encouragement for other researchers to take advantage of the power of citizen science, and the existing large datasets available from these projects.

Mediterranean seagrass Posidonia oceanica is used as a common biological indicator in the monitoring programmes of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) due to its structural and functional features providing information about the status of coastal ecosystems. In this respect synthetic seascape ecological indices using P. oceanica: the Conservation Index (CI), the Substitution Index (SI), the Phase Shift Index (PSI) and the Patchiness Index (PI) provide supplementary data on the meadow status and on the pressures affecting the meadows besides evaluating the water quality. However, these indices have not been adopted by the European Union Water Framework Directive (WFD). This survey is, therefore focused on the qualification of the status of coastal ecosystems in the North Aegean Sea with an integrated approach based on the synthetic (the CI, the SI, the PSI and the PI) and biotic indices (Biotic Index of Posidonia and Ecosystem Based Quality Index) of P. oceanica. Measurements of several parameters are conducted in four sites (2 natural, 2 anthropized) in Gokceada (North Aegean). The preliminary results confirm the efficiency of synthetic and biotic indices to evaluate the ecosystem status in relation with anthropogenic pressures at a local extent. The mean value of the CI corresponds to a "good" status, while the value of the BiPo Index corresponds to a "moderate" and the value of the EBQI corresponds to a "poor" status for Gokceada. Maximum values of the synthetic and biotic indices are recorded in natural sites. On the contrary, minimum values are recorded in anthropized sites close to marine-based activities. In addition, an early stage of a phase shift (PSI < 0.25) is recorded due to a low substitution with Caulerpa cylindracea spread around fragmented meadows and dead matte areas. Also, relations (p < 0.05) between the scores of the Land Uses Simplified Index (LUSI) and combined synthetic and biotic indices of P. oceanica, verified the negative impacts of anthropogenic pressures on the benthic ecosystems of the North Aegean Sea where the data is deficient.

The author’s definition of marginal territories is based on the principle of their uniqueness, specificity, and isolation. Marginal territories mean closed border areas located on the edge of districts or isolated areas in the center under the influence of factors and released a higher diversity and number of species, characterized by isolation from the center, which are based on the isolation of life of the population of the district. The assessment of the quality of the environment for the comfort of living in marginal territories was carried out in comparison with the control areas related to the lands of localities and recreational territories. It is carried out on the basis of a comprehensive analysis of the habitat of groups of organisms sensitive to environmental degradation, belonging to the department of Lichens. The assessment of the condition of marginal territories was carried out by methods of determining the degree of lichen cover and the air pollution level parameter, the biotic index parameter, and the poleo-tolerance index in comparison with control territories related to the lands of settlements and recreational territories.

The release of plastics in freshwater is an increasing concern for ecosystem safety worldwide. There is a large knowledge gap on plastic pollution in Mediterranean freshwater, especially regarding surveys along entire river courses, partly due to the absence of guidelines for standardized monitoring of plastics. The present study analyzes the plastic distribution from source to mouth, also according to the River Continuum Concept, of the environmental matrices (water and sediments) and biota (caddisfly cases) of the Mediterranean River Mignone and their cause-effect relationship. The results of the water quality indices (Extended Biotic Index and Fluvial Functionality Index) were compared with the plastic concentrations observed in the water and sediments to explore what relationship there might be and to understand if the indices could be a proxy of the plastic pollution. Our results showed a significant prevalence of blue fibers, the concentration of which in water and sediment is positively associated. Plastic concentration at each site was not accurately detected by the water quality indices. These results may suggest that the factors considered by water quality indices are not able to detect the contamination of plastic pollution. It is mandatory to identify new tools for assessing the plastic impacts on river ecosystems.

Protozoans are valuable indicators of the wastewater biological treatment process and are used in a variety of water resource recovery facilities (WRRF). The aim of this study was to determine the applicability of the Sludge Biotic Index (SBI) as an indicator of activated sludge purification efficiency during different influent loadings: municipal wastewater (M) and municipal wastewater combined with industrial wastewater from a sugar refinery (M + S). Despite the higher organic load during the M + S period, purification efficiency was higher for BOD5 , compared with the M period. SBI values were high during both periods, indicating stable sludge, excellent biological activity, and good to very good performance. According to the share of indicator taxa, better conditions of activated sludge were found during the M + S period. Protozoan abundance differed between the two study periods, as well as purification efficiency for some parameters. Certain taxa showed a significant correlation with purification efficiency for specific parameters. Although SBI is a useful tool for estimating activated sludge health, it should be used in combination with additional indicator metrics and/or a species-specific approach. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Activated sludge can have high purification efficiency during the co-treatment of industrial and municipal wastewater. The Sludge Biotic Index is applicable as an indicator of activated sludge condition during the treatment of municipal and sugar refinery wastewaters. A combination of indicators and a species-specific approach can give better estimation of the health of activated sludge.

Our study of 164 diatom samples from Catalonia (NE Spain) is the first to evaluate the applicability of DNA metabarcoding, based on high throughput sequencing (HTS) using a 312-bp rbcL marker, for biomonitoring Mediterranean rivers. For this, we compared the values of a biotic index (IPS) and the ecological status classes derived from them, between light microscope-based (LM) and HTS methods. Very good correspondence between methods gives encouraging results concerning the applicability of DNA metabarcoding for Catalan rivers for the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). However, in 10 sites, the ecological status class was downgraded from “Good”/“High” obtained by LM to “Moderate”/“Poor”/“Bad” by HTS; these “critical” sites are especially important, because the WFD requires remedial action by water managers for any river with Moderate or lower status. We investigated the contribution of each species to the IPS using a “leave-one-out” sensitivity analysis, paying special attention to critical sites. Discrepancies in IPS between LM and HTS were mainly due to the misidentification and overlooking in LM of a few species, which were better recovered by HTS. This bias was particularly important in the case of Fistulifera saprophila, whose clear underrepresentation in LM was important for explaining 8 out of the 10 critical sites and probably reflected destruction of weakly-silicified frustules during sample preparation. Differences between species in the rbcL copy number per cell affected the relative abundance obtained by HTS for Achnanthidium minutissimum, Nitzschia inconspicua and Ulnaria ulna, which were also identified by the sensitivity analysis as important for the WFD. Only minor IPS discrepancies were attributed to the incompleteness of the reference library, as most of the abundant and influential species (to the IPS) were well represented there. Finally, we propose that leave-one-out analysis is a good method for identifying priority species for isolation and barcoding. info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion

Intensive fish farming is a major industry, but the extent of organic matter (OM) and heavy metal pollution by fish farms is debated. This study established in situ reference conditions using geochemical parameters and fossil benthic foraminiferal assemblages in dated sediment cores to identify potential impacts of fish farming in two basins of the inner Oksfjord, Northern Norway. Living (rose Bengal stained) benthic foraminifera were used to assess the present day environmental conditions. The fossil foraminiferal records were compared with the living foraminifera, which in turn were compared with macrofaunal data. Long-term (>100 yrs) sediment core records of the geochemical parameters (TOC63, C/N, δ13CVPDB TOC and heavy metals) and foraminiferal indices (Norwegian Quality Index (fNQI), AZTI’s Marine Biotic Index (fAMBI), fHlog2, ES100) did not indicate an impact from fish farming through time. Long-term changes in foraminiferal absolute abundances and relative abundances of ecological groups (EGs) reflecting organic matter (OM) tolerance suggest that the OM supply slightly increased compared to reference conditions. Relative abundances of Brizalina skagerrakensis and Epistominella vitrea, previously associated with phytodetrital input, suggest a minor increase in primary productivity compared to reference conditions. The Stainforthia group (S. fusiformis and S. feylingi), indicative of OM enrichment, in the living foraminiferal assemblages may indicate a response to fish farming activities, but foraminiferal seasonality could not be excluded as a potential cause. The indices of both fossil and living foraminifera, in addition to the macrofauna showed a good to high Ecological Quality Status (EcoQS) through time and at present. This indicates that environmental conditions have been and still are acceptable.

Ecological assessment of lakes and rivers using benthic diatom assemblages currently requires considerable taxonomic expertise to identify species using light microscopy. This traditional approach is also time-consuming. Diatom metabarcoding is a promising alternative and there is increasing interest in using this approach for routine assessment. However, until now, analysis protocols for diatom metabarcoding have been developed and optimised by research groups working in isolation. The diversity of existing bioinformatics methods highlights the need for an assessment of the performance and comparability of results of different methods. The aim of this study was to test the correspondence of outputs from six bioinformatics pipelines currently in use for diatom metabarcoding in different European countries. Raw sequence data from 29 biofilm samples were treated by each of the bioinformatics pipelines, five of them using the same curated reference database. The outputs of the pipelines were compared in terms of sequence unit assemblages, taxonomic assignment, biotic index score and ecological assessment outcomes. The three last components were also compared to outputs from traditional light microscopy, which is currently accepted for ecological assessment of phytobenthos, as required by the Water Framework Directive. We also tested the performance of the pipelines on the two DNA markers (rbcL and 185-V4) that are currently used by the working groups participating in this study. The sequence unit assemblages produced by different pipelines showed significant differences in terms of assigned and unassigned read numbers and sequence unit numbers. When comparing the taxonomic assignments at genus and species level, correspondence of the taxonomic assemblages between pipelines was weak. Most discrepancies were linked to differential detection or quantification of taxa, despite the use of the same reference database. Subsequent calculation of biotic index scores also showed significant differences between approaches, which were reflected in the final ecological assessment. Use of the rbcL marker always resulted in better correlation among molecular datasets and also in results closer to these generated using traditional microscopy. This study shows that decisions made in pipeline design have implications for the dataset's structure and the taxonomic assemblage, which in turn may affect biotic index calculation and ecological assessment. There is a need to define best-practice bioinformatics parameters in order to ensure the best representation of diatom assemblages. Only the use of similar parameters will ensure the compatibility of data from different working groups. The future of diatom metabarcoding for ecological assessment may also lie in the development of new metrics using, for example, presence/absence instead of relative abundance data. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

An extensive survey of tropical rivers, conducted during 2009–2012 throughout Zambia, collected 151 samples of benthic macroinvertebrates, located on 95 rivers in six of the nine freshwater ecoregi...

Functional diversity is the component of diversity that influences ecosystem dynamics, stability, productivity, nutrient balance, and other aspects of ecosystem functioning. We evaluate the spatio-temporal variability of the functional traits (biological traits analysis), functional diversity indices (functional richness, functional evenness, functional divergence and functional dispersion) and AZTI marine biotic index in response to the distinct levels of sewage contamination at different sites on intertidal abrasion platforms. Variations in macrobenthic functional structure between reference and impacted sites were evident in the study area. The functional richness showed a pattern with higher values in the reference sites; Functional evenness showed a similar pattern, but only during spring. Functional divergence presented lower values in the impacted sites during autumn and spring. The functional diversity indices (functional richness and functional evenness) and the AZTI marine biotic index presented a negative relationship, indicating that functional diversity is related to benthic environmental health. Thus, biological traits analysis and functional diversity indices, especially FRic that reveals differences in macrobenthic functional structure between impacted and reference sites during all seasons, represent an informative and useful tool to describe the different aspects of sewage impacts in benthic assemblages on rocky shores. These analyses have a high potential for future monitoring programmes. Fil: Garaffo, Griselda Valeria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Jaubet, Maria Lourdes. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Llanos, Elizabeth Noemi. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Saracho Bottero, Maria Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Elias, Rodolfo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina

The water quality in many Midwestern streams and lakes is negatively impacted by agricultural activities. Although the agricultural inputs that degrade water quality are well known, the impact of these inputs varies as a function of geologic and topographic parameters. To better understand how a range of land use, geologic, and topographic factors affect water quality in Midwestern watersheds, we sampled surface water quality parameters, including nitrate, phosphate, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, bacteria, pH, specific conductance, temperature, and biotic index (BI) in 35 independent sub-watersheds within the Lower Grand River Watershed in northern Missouri. For each sub-watershed, the land use/land cover, soil texture, depth to bedrock, depth to the water table, recent precipitation area, total stream length, watershed shape/relief ratio, topographic complexity, mean elevation, and slope were determined. Water quality sampling was conducted twice: in the spring and in the late summer/early fall. A pairwise comparison of water quality parameters acquired in the fall and spring showed that each of these factors varies considerably with season, suggesting that the timing is critical when comparing water quality indicators. Correlation analysis between water quality indicators and watershed characteristics revealed that both geologic and land use characteristics correlated significantly with water quality parameters. The water quality index had the highest correlation with the biotic index during the spring, implying that the lower water quality conditions observed in the spring might be more representative of the longer-term water quality conditions in these watersheds than the higher quality conditions observed in the fall. An assessment of macroinvertebrates indicated that the biotic index was primarily influenced by nutrient loading due to excessive amounts of phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) discharge from agricultural land uses. The PCA analysis found a correlation between turbidity, E. coli, and BI, suggesting that livestock grazing may adversely affect the water quality in this watershed. Moreover, this analysis found that N, P, and SC contribute greatly to the observed water quality variability. The results of this study can be used to improve decision-making strategies to improve water quality for the entire river basin.

IntroductionUrbanization is one of the main causes for environmental problems due to the introduction of pollutants into water bodies. Lahi is crossing fintoselam. This river has long been used for a variety of purposes including source of public water supply, small scale irrigation, bathing, washing, animal watering, sand and stone dredging and recreation.ObjectiveTo assess the influence of Finoteselam town on ecological status of Lahi riverMethodsThe assessment were assessed using physicochemical parameters, physical habitat assessment, biotic indices /metrics, human activity by observation as well as macroinvertabretes samples from eleven sampling sites coded S1 to S11 along the river using the standard procedures. The assessments were involved in-situ measurements and collection of water samples in April 2019 then, analyzed the water samples in laboratory.ResultsThe biological analysis reveals a notable reduction of the diversity macroinvertabrates in the downstream direction where the minimum was at midstream sites. Upstream has significantly better macroinvertabrates assemblage than midstream (p-valueConclusionMidstream was relatively more polluted than upstream due to influence of pollutant from Finoteselam town. The ecological status of upstream segments of the river is very good with slight organic pollutions, and at midstream is poor and significant degree of organic pollutions; whereas the status of the downstream is fair with fairly substantial water pollution showing moderate ecological disturbance. In general, midstream the sampling stations show the deterioration in water ecology and thus necessitated a need for mitigation measure to save the Lahi.

The main environmental variables of bottom seawater and macrobenthic invertebrates were investigated from February 2015 to January 2016 to evaluate the benthic ecological status in adjacent areas of the Yangtze River Estuary, China. Diverse ecological assessment results were given by the AZTI Marine Biotic Index (AMBI), multivariate-AMBI (M-AMBI) and benthic opportunistic polychaetes amphipods (BOPA) index, showing that the M-AMBI was the most suitable in the study area. A clear spatial distribution pattern related to the distance from the estuary and the coasts was found both for the benthic ecological status and the eutrophication-related bottom seawater environmental variables, indicating that the study area was under eutrophication pressure. Two major disturbed regions (one was east of the Yangtze River Estuary, and the other was east of Zhejiang Province) were discovered, which was probably mainly caused by the Changjiang Diluted Water (CDW). No significant seasonal changes were found in the ecological status.

Nutrient enrichment is a significant cause of ecosystem change in coastal habitats worldwide. This study focuses on the change in a benthic macroinvertebrate community and environmental quality as assessed through different biotic indices following the construction of a sewage outfall pipe in the west of Scotland, from first implementation to seven years after operation of the pipe. Benthic macroinvertebrates are an important part of marine ecosystems because they mediate ecosystem processes and functions, are a key part of food webs and they provide many ecosystem services. Results indicated a clear change in benthic communities over time with an increase in species richness and changes to benthic community composition (specifically feeding type, bioturbation mode and ecological group) towards those indicative of organic enrichment. No clear spatial zonation was observed because organic carbon content increased over the entire area. According to a suite of benthic indices calculated, some negative changes were detectable following the start of sewage disposal, but largely negative community changes, and a change from ‘good’ to ‘moderate’ quality, only occurred seven years after implementation. The increase in species richness in response to increasing disturbance reduced the utility of a multi-metric index, the Infaunal Quality Index, which, instead of amplifying the signal of negative impact, dampened it. We suggest that any change in communities, regardless of direction, should be heeded, and species richness is a particularly sensitive and early warning indicator for this, but a suite of approaches is required to understand benthic community changes.

Biological assessment is considered a useful tool for assessing the ecological status of the aquatic ecosystems. Therefore, the goal of the present study was to use phytoplankton and macroinvertebrates as biological tools for ecological assessment of the River Nile around Gizert El-Warrak. A total of 33 phytoplankton species identified in the studied stations; these include 16 species of Chlorophyta, 5 species of Cyanophyta and 12 species of Bacillariophyta. All investigated stations characterized by high organic pollution according to Palmer's index. Trophic state index showed a hyper-eutrophic status in stations S1, S2, S4, S6 and S8 and an eutrophic status in stations S3, S5 and S7. Gastropoda and Oligochaeta were the most dominant of macroinvertebrates taxa recorded 50.8 and 24.6%, respectively.

Previous research combining data on the abundance of benthic invertebrates living in the northernmost section of the Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor estuary with data on water quality suggested a community composition consistent with anthropogenic eutrophication. This part of the estuary, however, experiences both high-nutrient and low-salinity environmental conditions, which are both ecologically stressful to sensitive species and favorable to opportunistic species, complicating assessments of the direct effects of anthropogenic eutrophication. Here, geohistorical baselines were derived from molluscan death assemblages from four localities along a north-south gradient in the bay—two northern low-salinity, high-nutrient sites and two southern high-salinity, low-nutrient sites—to disentangle the effects of salinity and nutrient enrichment on the composition of benthic communities. Disturbance in the northern section of the estuary from freshwater input has been relatively consistent for thousands of years, but nutrient enrichment is a more recent stressor, developing only in the past few decades. The cause of the disturbed benthic community is unlikely to be anthropogenic eutrophication, if there is little discordance between the living and the death assemblage in the northern, low-salinity section of the bay. Comparisons of rank-order abundance (Spearman's rho) and taxonomic similarity (Jaccard-Chao index) of the living and death assemblages along the north-south gradient, however, indicate that compositional shifts occur at the northern sites only. A multivariate index analysis, M-AMBI, which integrates the AZTI Marine Biotic Index, a biotic index based on species sensitivity/tolerance to disturbances, with Shannon diversity and species richness, shows a similar pattern: ecological status shifts (from undisturbed to disturbed) in the northern but not southern sites along the north-south salinity gradient. These independent lines of evidence corroborate the inference that it is most likely anthropogenic eutrophication (and not salinity) disturbance driving observed patterns in benthic community composition. Further sampling and incorporation of geohistorical data into ongoing benthic monitoring in the estuary is recommended to establish ecological baselines where none exist, guide restoration planning, and assess the success of restoration efforts.

Biological indices such as AZTI’s Marine Biotic Index (AMBI) and multivariate AMBI (M-AMBI) have been used in monitoring programs worldwide to assess the benthic ecological status (ES) of transitional and coastal waters. However, their reliability is reduced under faunal impoverishment and defaunation, low abundance/number of taxa, and/or high percentage of taxa not assigned or mis-assigned to ecological group, which imply removing these data from the analysis. In order to avoid loss of robustness when these situations are met, here we propose an approach based on decision criteria that utilize these indices together with environmental and contaminants data. Our area of study is the southern Gulf of Mexico seafloor, where a survey was carried out during the rainy season across a sampling grid of 75 sites. To achieve this, we first distinguished homogeneous groups of sites and then defined states (‘good’, ‘fair’, and ‘bad’) from three sediment quality elements: benthic indices, environmental data by quartile values, and contaminant concentrations in the context of sediment quality guidelines. Overall, 69% of sampling sites showed low abundance and defaunation, mainly at sites located on the continental shelf, where most of them ranged from ‘moderate’ to ‘poor’ ES, principally by ‘fair’ environmental data and secondly, oil-related disturbance. Conversely, sites located near the mouths of rivers and coastal lagoons recorded the highest abundance and showed diverse sensitivity levels, ranging from ‘high’ to ‘bad’ ES. In conclusion, the use of this states-based approach allowed us to support and interpret the results of AMBI and M-AMBI, since their values were related to environmental and contaminants data. This approach may be useful in many contexts to avoid the loss of data when assessing the ES of the seafloor under defaunation or low abundance conditions.

DNA metabarcoding has been introduced as a revolutionary way to identify organisms and monitor ecosystems. However, the potential of this approach for biomonitoring remains partially unfulfilled because a significant part of the sampled DNA cannot be affiliated to species due to incomplete reference libraries. Thus, biotic indices, which are based on the estimated abundances of species in a community and their ecological profiles, can be inaccurate. We propose to compute biotic indices using phylogenetic imputation of operational taxonomic units (OTUs') ecological profiles (OTU-PITI approach). First, OTUs sequences are inserted within a reference phylogeny. Second, OTUs' ecological profiles are estimated on the basis of their phylogenetic relationships with reference species whose ecology is known. Based on these ecological profiles, biotic indices can be computed using all available OTUs. Using freshwater diatoms as a case study, we show that short DNA barcodes can be placed accurately within a phylogeny and their ecological preferences estimated with a satisfactory level of precision. In the light of these results, we tested the approach with a data set of 139 environmental samples of benthic river diatoms for which the same biotic index (specific sensitivity index) was calculated using (a) traditional microscopy, (b) OTUs with taxonomic assignment approach, (c) OTUs with phylogenetic estimation of ecological profiles (OTU-PITI) and (d) OTU with taxonomic assignment completed by the phylogenetic approach (OTU-PITI) for unclassified OTUs. Using traditional microscopy as a reference, we found that the combination of the OTUs' taxonomic assignment completed by the phylogenetic method performed satisfactorily and substantially better than the other methods tested.

We evaluated the biological water quality in relation to chemicals discharged through sewage outfall during both dry and rainy season. The lowland area of the Cuenca River basin in the southern Andes of Ecuador, including the city of Cuenca, constituted the study area. To perform an integrated water quality assessment, data were collected of macroinvertebrates, physicochemical conditions and morphological characteristics in 43 sites in the Cuenca River and its tributaries. The Andean Biotic Index (ABI) and the Biological Monitoring Working Party adapted to Colombia (BMWP-Col) were used to evaluate the biological water quality. Both biological indexes were higher upstream than downstream from the city. Moreover, these indexes indicated better conditions during the rainy season than in the dry season, based on the presence of more sensitive families. The biological indexes related more to the oxygen saturation than to the five-day biological oxygen demand (BOD5), nutrients and chloride concentrations. The relationship between BOD5 and nutrient concentrations with the variation of both biological indexes was clearer in the dry season than in the rainy season. However, in some sites, these indexes were influenced more by morphological aspects than by pollutants. Both biological indexes showed similar patterns along the rivers, generally the BMWP-Col scored higher than the ABI index. The latter index was shown to be more suitable for the high Andes region. These results could be used to support the implementation of river restoration actions, such as determining priorities for splitting sewer and precipitation water transport systems and needs for improved wastewater treatment facilities in specific locations. © 2018 Elsevier GmbH

The multivariate AMBI (M-AMBI) is an extension of the AZTI Marine Biotic Index (AMBI) that has been used extensively in Europe, but not in the United States. In a previous study, we adapted AMBI for use in US coastal waters (US AMBI), but saw biases in salinity and score distribution when compared to locally calibrated indices. In this study we modified M-AMBI for US waters and compared its performance to that of US AMBI. Index performance was evaluated in three ways: 1) concordance with local indices presently being used as management tools in three geographic regions of US coastal waters, 2) classification accuracy for sites defined a priori as good or bad and 3) insensitivity to natural environmental gradients. US M-AMBI was highly correlated with all three local indices and removed the compression in response seen in moderately disturbed sites with US AMBI. US M-AMBI and US AMBI did a similar job correctly classifying sites as good or bad in local validation datasets (83 to 100% accuracy vs. 84 to 95%, respectively). US M-AMBI also removed the salinity bias of US AMBI so that lower salinity sites were not more likely to be incorrectly classified as impaired. The US M-AMBI appears to be an acceptable index for comparing condition across broad-scales such as estuarine and coastal waters surveyed by the US EPA’s National Coastal Condition Assessment, and may be applicable to areas of the US coast that do not have a locally derived benthic index.

The use of biotic indices has garnered attention during the last decade due to its extensive application in evaluating ecological quality status (EcoQS) of marine waters and estuaries. Three seasonal surveys were conducted in the Kundalika estuary, India to evaluate the ecostatus using five benthic indices and comparing their effectiveness considering the estuarine salinity gradient and seasonality. All indices gave divergent results displaying a wide range of classes (good to bad) across salinity zones and seasons. Comparatively, M-AMBI discriminated the EcoQS suitably than other indices. Hence, a seasonally averaged approach for M-AMBI was proposed to obtain a final mean EcoQS which assigned moderate status to the euhaline and poly-mesohaline zones and poor status to the oligohaline zone. Considering the high degree of spatial heterogeneity and seasonality in the estuary, the monsoon data was found to lower the EcoQS due to natural stress in some cases; the exclusion of the monsoon season resulted in a more valid ecostatus. Therefore, this approach which combines information from the non-monsoon seasons stands out in providing a useful basis for ecological management by scrutinizing responses of macrobenthos. Also, we suggest salinity zone-wise evaluation for more effective classification chiefly in tropical monsoonal estuaries. An effort to establish a final EcoQS was performed; however, future in-depth studies are necessary to ascertain the reliability of the successful biotic index (M-AMBI) in estuaries with different stressors.

Sahidin A, Zahidah, Herawati H, Wardiatno Y, Setyobudiandi I, Partasasmita R. 2018. Macrozoobenthos as bioindicator of ecological status in Tanjung Pasir Coastal, Tangerang District, Banten Province, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 19: 1123-1129. The existence of macrozoobenthos organism allow for bioindicator of ecological status and detected water pollution in coastal environment with observing the response, diversity, and abundance. The one of biological method for water quality analysis is AZTI Marine Biotic Index (AMBI). This research aims to determine water quality status in Tanjung Pasir water coastal Tangerang, Banten. The research was conducted in April - August 2014 in Tanjung Pasir Coastal, Tanggerang, Banten with purposive sampling method and be forwarded with water pollution analysis with AZTI Marine Biotic Index (AMBI) model. The research showed 4.552 individual of macrozoobenthos found divided into 52 species with the average of diversity amount 634 ind./m2 with dominated by bivalve species Nuculana bicuspidate 22.89%, it is a bivalve an extreme species that can live in waters with very low oxygen concentrations and hight pollution. The result of AMBI (4.01 to 5.02) indicates water pollution in Tanjung Pasir Coastal classified in medium-heavy pollution and concentred in coastal zone. Polychaeta is a key bioindicator in the determination of water pollution and ecological status in Tanjung Pasir coastal.

The aim of research is to monitor the water quality of some ecotourism sites along Prafi Rivers (Manokwari, West Papua), especially in Subsay, SP1 reservoir and SP3 reservoir using macro-zoobenthos biotic index, Prati’s index and some chemical-physical factors of water. Research was done from July to September 2016. Sampling was performed through Purposive Random Sampling. Macro-zoobenthos was collected from each sampling sites in three locations, (upstream, middle stream, downstream) using Surber net and hand net. Water quality was categorized based on Implicit Prati’s Pollution index that is derived from DO, BOD 5, pH, nitrate, orthophosphate and water temperature value. Macro-zoobenthos data was used to analyze the diversity index and six biotic indices. Result of the study showed that DO, BOD 5, pH and nitrate value in all location meet water standard quality based on PP. no 82, 2001 class II (fisheries, recreation, animals husbandry and irrigation). The turbidity value in sites of upstream, middle stream and downstream Subsay and SP3 have meets standard water quality according to WHO for drinking water (

The phenomenon of water pollution constitutes a massive threat to the very existence of freshwater bodies and can potentially eliminate vital benefits otherwise associated with these resources. In several countries such as Ghana, initial steps to salvage existing freshwater bodies have given rise to the need for effective water quality assessment and biological monitoring. This study was conducted with the aim of assessing the abundance, composition, and diversity of benthic macroinvertebrate fauna in the Nima Creek, situated in Accra, Ghana. On the basis of findings in relation to identified macroinvertebrate types, we further determine the quality of water in the creek. Samples were collected at 8 different riffles with a Surber sampler. The benthic macroinvertebrates sampled consisted of 6 taxa and 5891 individuals belonging to Nematoda, Oligochaeta, Gastropoda, and Insecta classes. Chironomini were the predominant group with 99.04% on the average, followed by Psychoda sp (0.44%), Rhabitidae (0.26%), and Tubifex (0.26%) at the upstream stretch of the creek. The downstream was dominated by Chironomini forming 97.30% on the average, followed by Tubifex (1.52%), Rhabitidae (1.08%), and Psychoda sp (0.05%). The estimated diversity of the sampling area for both upstream and downstream was assessed by using the Simpson Diversity Index and was found to be 0.53, indicative of a fairly diversified community structure. Family Biotic Index (FBI) was used to determine the water quality of the creek and found to be 9.92, which indicates severely polluted water. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed no significant differences between upstream and downstream abundances at both 95% and 99% confidence levels. However, Melanoides tuberculata was found only at the downstream reach due to low current, the formation of rocky substratum, and the absence of riparian vegetation making it a suitable habitat.

In North Africa, the studies of streams quality are incomplete, especially in arid environments which are very fragile. This work is intended to highlight the knowledge of the health status of the streams in the Belezma National Park (Biosphere Reserve) through a multi-parametric approach based on benthic macroinvertebrates ecology. We have prospected in April 2015 four temporary rivers (Wadis: W. Hamla, W. Chaaba, W. Bouilef and W. El Ma) and evaluated the biodiversity of benthic macroinvertebrates in relation to a set of environmental factors: 12 physicochemical water parameters, global habitat characteristics and degree of human pressure. The water flow velocity is generally very low to medium. The habitats are dominated by coarse substratum and rocks (5-90%), sand and gravel are poorly represented while plants habitats are completely absent. The water pH was between 7.29 and 8.50, nitrates (0 - 0.76) and nitrites (0.1 - 0.4). The water was slightly salted (0.20% and 0.30%) and generally clear (turbidity: 2.8 to 22 NTU). We identified a total of 28 taxa of benthic macroinvertebrates divided into 3 phylums, 4 classes, 11 orders and 22 families. Among the insect class, which was the most dominant taxa, the most abundant groups are Diptera (36.85%), Trichoptera (20.92%) and Ephemeroptera (16.73%). The highest biodiversity (total richness: 22 taxa; Shannon index: 2.84) was noted in W. Chaaba, which is located in the integral zone of the protected area. The evaluated biotic index of water quality ‘’IBGN’’ shows that hydro-biological quality of the water in the 4 studied streams was generally as ‘’average’’ (IBGN score between 9 and 10). It would be urgent to set up a biomonitoring program in order to control the disturbances issue to high pollution in this protected area. Article DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.20319/lijhls.2018.41.0118 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-commercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.