Determining the macroinvertebrate community indicators and relevant environmental predictors of the Hun-Tai River Basin (Northeast China): A study based on community patterning

[EN] It is essential to understand the patterning of biota and environmental influencing factors for proper rehabilitation and management at the river basin scale. The Hun-Tai River Basin was extensively sampled four times for macroinvertebrate community and environmental variables during one year. Self-Organizing Maps (SOMs) were used to reveal the aggregation patterns of the 355 samples. Three community types (i.e., clusters) were found (at the family level) based on the community composition, which showed a clearly gradient by combining them with the representative environmental variables: minimally impacted source area, intermediately anthropogenic impacted sites, and highly anthropogenic impacted downstream area, respectively. This gradient was corroborated by the decreasing trends in density and diversity of macroinvertebrates. Distance from source, total phosphorus and water temperature were identified as the most important variables that distinguished the delineated communities. In addition, the sampling season, substrate type, pH and the percentage of grassland were also identified as relevant variables. These results demonstrated that macroinvertebrates communities are structured in a hierarchical manner where geographic and water quality prevail over temporal (season) and habitat (substrate type) features at the basin scale. In addition, it implied that the local-scale environment variables affected macroinvertebrates under the longitudinal gradient of the geographical and anthropogenic pressure. More than one family was identified as the indicator for each type of community. Abundance contributed significantly for distinguishing the indicators, while Baetidae with higher density indicated minimally and intermediately impacted area and lower density indicated highly impacted area. Therefore, we suggested the use of abundance data in community patterning and classification, especially in the identification of the indicator taxa. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51779275, 41501204, 51479219) and the IWHR Research & Development Support Program (WE0145B532017).Zhang, M.; Muñoz Mas, R.; Martinez-Capel, F.; Qu, X.; Zhang, H.; Peng, W.; Liu, X. (2018). Determining the macroinvertebrate community indicators and relevant environmental predictors of the Hun-Tai River Basin (Northeast China): A study based on community patterning. The Science of The Total Environment. 634:749-759. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.04.021S74975963

Dispersal Capabilities of Two Plecopteran Species and Macroinvertebrate Community from Four Watersheds in Northeast Ohio

This dissertation focused on the insect order Plecoptera, and hypothesized that Allocapnia recta populations would have lower genetic diversity than Leuctra tenuis between adjacent Chagrin and Grand Rivers due to wing structure and season of terrestrial adult emergence. Genetic variations within the 16s rRNA region of mtDNA in A. recta, a winter emerging adult with rudimentary wing structure, and L. tenuis, a summer emerging adult with fully developed wings, were compared and revealed significant genetic variability between A. recta samples from the two rivers (FST = 0.20) but not between L. tenuis samples (FST = 0.07). Further genetic variation investigation used A. recta, populations, within and between the Chagrin River and Grand River, hypothesized that differences in populations is a function of distance, and that greater distance leads to greater genetic variability. To strengthen the robustness of this work, samples were collected from two additional watersheds, the Rocky and Cuyahoga Rivers. Genetic variation of A. recta populations differed significantly across all four watersheds, especially between the Cuyahoga and Grand Rivers (G\u27ST = 1), Rarity of movement regardless of distance suggests that other factors have a more profound effect than previously thought - factors that include human influences. The unresolved genetic variation of A. recta and potential human influence resulted in a holistic examination of macroinvertebrate community structure and ecology within the four watersheds. Both legacy land use and anthropogenic disturbance effects on seasonal variation were examined and it was hypothesized that: (1) greatest species diversity and richness among stoneflies and other macroinvertebrates will occur during the summer months, when weather conditions in Ohio are more conducive. (2) The greatest species diversity and richness among stoneflies and other macroinvertebrates will occur where the landscape has been historically less disturbed. The results revealed inconsistencies in season

Dispersal Capabilities of Two Plecopteran Species and Macroinvertebrate Community from Four Watersheds in Northeast Ohio

This dissertation focused on the insect order Plecoptera, and hypothesized that Allocapnia recta populations would have lower genetic diversity than Leuctra tenuis between adjacent Chagrin and Grand Rivers due to wing structure and season of terrestrial adult emergence. Genetic variations within the 16s rRNA region of mtDNA in A. recta, a winter emerging adult with rudimentary wing structure, and L. tenuis, a summer emerging adult with fully developed wings, were compared and revealed significant genetic variability between A. recta samples from the two rivers (FST = 0.20) but not between L. tenuis samples (FST = 0.07). Further genetic variation investigation used A. recta, populations, within and between the Chagrin River and Grand River, hypothesized that differences in populations is a function of distance, and that greater distance leads to greater genetic variability. To strengthen the robustness of this work, samples were collected from two additional watersheds, the Rocky and Cuyahoga Rivers. Genetic variation of A. recta populations differed significantly across all four watersheds, especially between the Cuyahoga and Grand Rivers (G\u27ST = 1), Rarity of movement regardless of distance suggests that other factors have a more profound effect than previously thought - factors that include human influences. The unresolved genetic variation of A. recta and potential human influence resulted in a holistic examination of macroinvertebrate community structure and ecology within the four watersheds. Both legacy land use and anthropogenic disturbance effects on seasonal variation were examined and it was hypothesized that: (1) greatest species diversity and richness among stoneflies and other macroinvertebrates will occur during the summer months, when weather conditions in Ohio are more conducive. (2) The greatest species diversity and richness among stoneflies and other macroinvertebrates will occur where the landscape has been historically less disturbed. The results revealed inconsistencies in season

A global perspective on the application of riverine macroinvertebrates as biological indicators in Africa, South-Central America, Mexico and Southern Asia

The aim of this study is to generate a first global overview of pressures and methods used to assess the environmental quality of rivers and streams using macroinvertebrates. In total, 314 peer-review studies were reviewed, published in the period 1997 – 2018, from developing economies in Africa, South-Central America, Mexico and Southern Asia. To establish a global perspective, the results from the literature review were compared to other compiled datasets, biomonitoring manuals, environmental surveys and literature reviews from Europe, North America and Australasia. The literature review from the developing economies showed that sampling was most usual during baseflow, using kick- or Surber sampling, with taxonomical identification levels mostly to genus or family. Assessments were most often done using metrics (singular and multimetrics; > 70% of the applications) and were based on community attributes related to richness and dominance (58% of studies), sensitivity (40%), diversity by heterogeneity (32%) and functional traits (25%). Within each category, the most used metrics were the richness and dominance of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera (EPT), Biological Monitoring Working Party scoring systems (BMWP/ASPT), Shannon-Wiener diversity and feeding traits. Overall, 92% of the reviewed studies reported that the use of macroinvertebrates, at least in some of their responses, was successful in detecting degradation of environmental quality in the investigated rivers. Given the many similarities in applied methods worldwide, at present, we consider that a global assessment of riverine environmental quality can be feasible by using family level identifications of macroinvertebrate samples. We propose a global common metric (multimetric), comprising three of the most common river assessment metrics from the reviewed literature, but also elsewhere, namely the BMWP/ASPT, Shannon-Wiener diversity and richness of EPT. Recent concerns regarding the global state of nature and consequences for freshwater communities, as reported by the intergovernmental science-policy platform on biodiversity and ecosystem services (IPBES), emphasize the urgent need for such a synthesis

Dispersal Capabilities of Two Plecopteran Species and Macroinvertebrate Community from Four Watersheds in Northeast Ohio

This dissertation focused on the insect order Plecoptera, and hypothesized that Allocapnia recta populations would have lower genetic diversity than Leuctra tenuis between adjacent Chagrin and Grand Rivers due to wing structure and season of terrestrial adult emergence. Genetic variations within the 16s rRNA region of mtDNA in A. recta, a winter emerging adult with rudimentary wing structure, and L. tenuis, a summer emerging adult with fully developed wings, were compared and revealed significant genetic variability between A. recta samples from the two rivers (FST = 0.20) but not between L. tenuis samples (FST = 0.07). Further genetic variation investigation used A. recta, populations, within and between the Chagrin River and Grand River, hypothesized that differences in populations is a function of distance, and that greater distance leads to greater genetic variability. To strengthen the robustness of this work, samples were collected from two additional watersheds, the Rocky and Cuyahoga Rivers. Genetic variation of A. recta populations differed significantly across all four watersheds, especially between the Cuyahoga and Grand Rivers (G\u27ST = 1), Rarity of movement regardless of distance suggests that other factors have a more profound effect than previously thought - factors that include human influences. The unresolved genetic variation of A. recta and potential human influence resulted in a holistic examination of macroinvertebrate community structure and ecology within the four watersheds. Both legacy land use and anthropogenic disturbance effects on seasonal variation were examined and it was hypothesized that: (1) greatest species diversity and richness among stoneflies and other macroinvertebrates will occur during the summer months, when weather conditions in Ohio are more conducive. (2) The greatest species diversity and richness among stoneflies and other macroinvertebrates will occur where the landscape has been historically less disturbed. The results revealed inconsistencies in season

Self-organizing map (SOM) for species distribution modelling of birds species at Kenyir landscape

Identifying which biodiversity species are more dominant than others in any area is a very challenging task. This is because of the abundant of biodiversity species that may become the majority species in any particular region. This situation create a large dataset with a complex variables to be analysed. Moreover, the responds of organisms and environmental factors are occurred in a non-linear correlation. The effort to do so is really important in order to conserve the biodiversity of nature. To understand the complex relationships that exist between species distribution and their habitat, we analysed the interactions among bird diversity, spatial distribution and land use types at Kenyir landscape in Terengganu, Malaysia by using artificial neural network (ANN) method of self-organizing map (SOM) analysis. SOM performs an unsupervised and non-linear analysis on a complex and large dataset. It is capable to handle the non-linear correlation between organism and environmental factors because SOM identifies clusters and relationships between variables without the fixed assumptions of linearity or normality. The result suggested that SOM analysis was suited for understanding the relationships between bird species assemblages and habitat characteristics

Larvae of Chironomidae family (Diptera, Insecta) in Southern Morava river basin and their application in assessing the ecological status of lotic systems

Hironomide (Chironomidae, Diptera), kao široko rasprostranjena i raznovrsna grupa akvatičnih beskičmenjaka, poseduju veliki potencijal u proceni stanja ekološkog statusa akvatičnih ekosistema. Zbog kontradiktornih rezultata o korisnosti ove grupe u metodama bioprocene, većina rutinskih monitoring programa ne uključuje larve familije Chironomidae. Ovakvo stanje upućuje na neophodnost poznavanja prostorne i vremenske distribucije zajednice hironomida. Ciljevi ovog istraživanja bili su: analiza strukture i dinamike zajednice hironomida i definisanje modela njihove povezanosti sa abiotičkim parametrima, testiranje potencijalnih strukturnih osobina zajednice i potencijalnih indikatorskih taksona u proceni ekološkog statusa akvatičnih ekosistema i, konačno, određivanje najnižeg taksonomskog nivoa, dovoljnog za primenu ove grupe u metodama bioprocene. Kako bi se predstavila multidimenzionalna struktura zajednice hironomida i odredila veza sa parametrima sredine, korišćena je multivarijantna metoda veštačkih neuromreža (samoorganizujuće mape, engl. Self organizing map - SOM). Sposobnost modelovanja nelinearnih veza, manja osetljivost na uticaj ekstremnih vrednosti i uspešno procesuiranje i vizualizacija velikog broja parametara i replika, čini ovu metodu odgovarajućom za analizu stukture zajednice hironomida kroz prostorne i vremenske gradijente. Za predstavljanje zajednice familije hironomida korišćen je indeks prosečne taksonomske različitost (delta+ (Δ+)), čija je glavna prednost potpuna nezavisnost od metoda i učestalosti uzorkovanja, što omogućava primenu ove metode u poređenju studija bez podataka o tempu i načinu uzorkovanju i tipu staništa.The widely distributed family of the Chironomidae presents the most diverse group of macroinvertebrate fauna and they are the prime candidate for the ecological status assessment of the lotic ecosystems. Due to the contradictory results in previous studies regarding comprehensiveness of the group in bioassessment, it has been a commonplace to exclude chironomids from the monitoring programs. This further stresses the need for more studies concerning spatio-temporal pattern of the Chironomidae community. The aim of the study was to analyze spatial and temporal variation in the chironomid community, to investigate the importance of variations in environmental factors and their influence on the community pattern, and to test the strength of potential community metrics and indicator taxa in assessing the ecological status of lotic systems. Finally, we wanted to determine the sufficient taxonomical level of the chironomid community, which could provide reliable information for the bioassessment. To present multidimensional structure of chironomid community and to pattern it with environmental factors we used Kohonen unsupervised artificial neural networks (Self organizing map – SOM). The ability to treat nonlinear relationships, less sensitivity to outliers, successful processing, and visualization of large data sets, make this method suitable for the community structure analysis. To describe the chironomid community, the average taxonomic distinctness (delta+) was used. Its main advantage is that it is largely independent of sampling effort with the implication that it can be directly compared across studies with unknown or different sampling efforts