Analysis of community composition and structure for bioindication (macrofauna and macrophytes)
Biological monitoring play a central role in current environmental impact assessment and planning, especially after the implementation of Water Framework Directive 2000/60/CE. Indexes based both on macrophytes and macroinvertebrates are thus applied to assess the quality status of water bodies and are designed to highlight the effect of anthropogenic impacts. Despite the usefulness of biotic indexes their uncritical use is not appropriate to discriminate anthropogenic impacts from natural source of variation (species autoecology, population and community dynamics). Analyses of the structure of biological communities through multivariate methods and the consideration of the biological and ecological traits of the organisms are complementary approaches that can be used in order to disentangle the response of communities to any type of stress.
In the context of the definition of minimum vital flow and in the perspective of defining the ecological flow of Oglio and Mincio rivers, the effects of water withdrawal on macrophyte and macroinvertebrate communities were studied. The index based on macroinvertebrates (STAR_ICMi) was able to detect a decline of the quality status of some sites but did not provide the cause of such deterioration. Multivariate analyses of both community structure and biological/ecological traits highlighted the role of the morphology of the river channel in structuring macrophytes and macroinvertebrates community.
Actually we are interested in quantifying the influence of the small scale variability of taxa on the performance of the biotic indexes. Data collection for the application of biotic indexes is in fact affected by different source of variation such as sampling method, taxa identification, natural dynamics and anthropogenic impacts that modify in space and time the community structure. Distinguish the effects attributable to natural variations and anthropogenic impacts represents a key issue in order to give reliable classification of the ecological quality status.
In the context of the definition of minimum vital flow and in the perspective of defining the ecological flow of Oglio and Mincio rivers, the effects of water withdrawal on macrophyte and macroinvertebrate communities were studied. The index based on macroinvertebrates (STAR_ICMi) was able to detect a decline of the quality status of some sites but did not provide the cause of such deterioration. Multivariate analyses of both community structure and biological/ecological traits highlighted the role of the morphology of the river channel in structuring macrophytes and macroinvertebrates community.
Actually we are interested in quantifying the influence of the small scale variability of taxa on the performance of the biotic indexes. Data collection for the application of biotic indexes is in fact affected by different source of variation such as sampling method, taxa identification, natural dynamics and anthropogenic impacts that modify in space and time the community structure. Distinguish the effects attributable to natural variations and anthropogenic impacts represents a key issue in order to give reliable classification of the ecological quality status.
References
Laini A., Vorti A., Bolpagni R., Viaroli P., 2014. Small-scale variability of benthic macroinvertebrates distribution and its effects on biological monitoring. Annales de Limnologie - International Journal of Limnology, 50: 211-216.
Guareschi S., Laini A., Racchetti E., Bo T., Fenoglio S., Bartoli M., 2014. How do hydromorphological constraints and regulated flows govern macroinvertebrate communities along an entire lowland river? Ecohydrology, 7(2): 366-377.
Laini A., Vorti A., Bolpagni R., Viaroli P., 2014. Small-scale variability of benthic macroinvertebrates distribution and its effects on biological monitoring. Annales de Limnologie - International Journal of Limnology, 50: 211-216.
Guareschi S., Laini A., Racchetti E., Bo T., Fenoglio S., Bartoli M., 2014. How do hydromorphological constraints and regulated flows govern macroinvertebrate communities along an entire lowland river? Ecohydrology, 7(2): 366-377.