Using a new fish indicator-based index with scoring and evaluation criteria to assess the ecological status in a disturbed subtropical river of China

IF 2.4 3区环境科学与生态学 Q2 ECOLOGY

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution Pub Date : 2024-08-07 DOI:10.3389/fevo.2024.1377508

Sai Wang, Yu-Jia Gao, Dong-Hai Wu, De-Lin Xu, Tuan-Tuan Wang, Shi-Di Fan, En-Ni Wu, Yong-Duo Song, Hong-Jin Zhang, Guo-Ping Fu, Zhong-Bing Chen, Ling Mo, Yang Zhang, Zhuo-Luo Ma

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Rivers are constantly disturbed by anthropogenic stressors. Developing robust biotic indicators to assess river environments across large spatial scales is important. In the subtropical Liuxi River of China, 34 native fish indicators, including 4 genera and 30 species, were selected from 108 fish species by linear discriminant analysis. These indicators were grouped into 19 ecological items and assigned evaluation scores according to the roles they played in the food web (e.g., keystoneness and trophic level) and their positive feedback on the environment (e.g., requirements for feeding, spawning/nursing, and migrating). Three formulae for calculating the index of fish indicators (IFI) were developed based on the scoring of each indicator and weighted by relative abundance (individual number, i.e., IFIN) and relative biomass (wet weight, i.e., IFIB). Spearman correlation analysis showed that IFIB, which had positive (P< 0.05) correlations with elevation (m), dissolved oxygen (mg/L), flow velocity (cm/s), Shannon-Wiener diversity, benthic index of biotic integrity, exhibited a more powerful explanation of biodiversity and environmental factors than IFIN and unweighted IFI. Therefore, IFIB was most suitable for constructing a scoring system to evaluate ecological status (e.g., water and habitat quality). These results suggested that fish indicator-based scoring and evaluation system was effectively in not only assessing the site- or region-specific ecological status bot also reflecting the fluvial biodiversity and food web integrity. Further application and promotion of this indicator-based evaluation method may improve field investigation efficiency and contribute greatly to the conservation and management of river ecosystems.

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利用基于鱼类指标的新指数及评分和评价标准评估中国一条受干扰的亚热带河流的生态状况

河流不断受到人为压力因素的干扰。开发可靠的生物指标来评估大空间尺度的河流环境非常重要。在中国亚热带的流溪河，通过线性判别分析，从 108 种鱼类中筛选出 34 个本地鱼类指标，包括 4 属 30 种。根据这些指标在食物网中的作用（如关键性和营养级）及其对环境的正反馈（如摄食、产卵/育苗和洄游的要求），将其归纳为 19 个生态项目并赋予评价分值。根据各项指标的评分，并按相对丰度（个体数量，即 IFIN）和相对生物量（湿重，即 IFIB）加权，制定了三种鱼类指标指数（IFI）计算公式。斯皮尔曼相关分析表明，IFIB 与海拔（米）、溶解氧（毫克/升）、流速（厘米/秒）、香农-维纳多样性、底栖生物完整性指数呈正相关（P< 0.05），比 IFIN 和未加权的 IFI 更能解释生物多样性和环境因素。因此，IFIB 最适合用于构建评价生态状况（如水质和生境质量）的评分系统。这些结果表明，基于鱼类指标的评分和评价系统不仅能有效评估特定地点或区域的生态状况，还能反映河道生物多样性和食物网的完整性。进一步应用和推广这种基于指标的评价方法可提高野外调查效率，为河流生态系统的保护和管理做出巨大贡献。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution Environmental Science-Ecology

CiteScore

4.00

自引率

6.70%

发文量

1143

审稿时长

12 weeks

期刊介绍： Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution publishes rigorously peer-reviewed research across fundamental and applied sciences, to provide ecological and evolutionary insights into our natural and anthropogenic world, and how it should best be managed. Field Chief Editor Mark A. Elgar at the University of Melbourne is supported by an outstanding Editorial Board of international researchers. This multidisciplinary open-access journal is at the forefront of disseminating and communicating scientific knowledge and impactful discoveries to researchers, academics and the public worldwide. Eminent biologist and theist Theodosius Dobzhansky’s astute observation that “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution” has arguably even broader relevance now than when it was first penned in The American Biology Teacher in 1973. One could similarly argue that not much in evolution makes sense without recourse to ecological concepts: understanding diversity — from microbial adaptations to species assemblages — requires insights from both ecological and evolutionary disciplines. Nowadays, technological developments from other fields allow us to address unprecedented ecological and evolutionary questions of astonishing detail, impressive breadth and compelling inference. The specialty sections of Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution will publish, under a single platform, contemporary, rigorous research, reviews, opinions, and commentaries that cover the spectrum of ecological and evolutionary inquiry, both fundamental and applied. Articles are peer-reviewed according to the Frontiers review guidelines, which evaluate manuscripts on objective editorial criteria. Through this unique, Frontiers platform for open-access publishing and research networking, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution aims to provide colleagues and the broader community with ecological and evolutionary insights into our natural and anthropogenic world, and how it might best be managed.