鄱阳湖湖区及支流修水夏季鱼类系统发育群落结构分析

群落的物种共存及构建机制是生态学研究的核心问题之一,系统发育群落结构分析为探究群落的构建机制提供了新的方法。研究在鄱阳湖湖区及其支流修水设立24个采样点,采用系统发育群落结构的方法分析了不同空间尺度下鱼类群落的构建机制。结果表明:(1)鄱阳湖鱼类主要以鲤形目、鲤科鱼类为主,表现出东亚江湖鱼类的组成特点;(2)依据物种组成和空间位置,鄱阳湖湖区及修水鱼类群落属于不同的组群,鄱阳湖湖区鱼类群落可以进一步分为北方群、南方群和东部群;(3)在采样点尺度, 24个采样点中,有12个采样点靠近鄱阳湖支流的入湖口区域,环境特别,群落构成表现为环境过滤作用,有12个采样点相对容纳了较多的远缘物种,群落构成表现为竞争作用;在区间分析的尺度,北方群、东部群及修水群表现为竞争作用,南方群表现为环境过滤作用;在湖区及支流流域的尺度,鄱阳湖湖区群为竞争作用,修水群转变为环境过滤作用。因此,鄱阳湖的湖区和支流修水等鱼类群落具有不同的物种组成和群落构建机制。研究结果加深了对群落构建机制的理解,可以为鄱阳湖鱼类资源的保护提供参考。     

长江湖口段春夏季仔稚鱼群落结构研究

湖口江段连通长江与鄱阳湖, 是诸多鱼类的洄游通道, 在长江鱼类的繁衍生息中发挥重要功能。研究于2016年5月—8月在长江中下游鱼类繁殖期内对湖口江段系统开展鱼类仔稚鱼资源的调查, 研究分析了该江段仔稚鱼群落组成、优势种、密度变化、时间空间分布及其与环境因子的关系。结果表明:88d连续采样共鉴定出隶属于8目12科39个仔稚鱼类群, 其中37个类群鉴定到种, 1个类群鉴定到亚科, 1个类群鉴定到科。贝氏?(Hemiculter bleekeri)为该江段仔稚鱼的第一优势种, 其余优势种有虾虎鱼科(Gobiidae)、鳊(Parabramis pekinensis)和飘鱼(Pseudolaubuca sinensis)。仔稚鱼密度在7月1日达到峰值, 峰值为1230.77 ind./100 m3; 7月1日至8月15日仔稚鱼密度整体呈波动性下降的趋势。时间尺度的聚类将6个时期分为5月下旬—7月上旬与7月下旬—8月上旬2个群组, 贝氏?、翘嘴鲌和刀鲚等在6月下旬达到峰值; 鳊、四大家鱼和鳜等在7月上旬达到峰值。江段断面上南北近岸采样点仔稚鱼密度高于断面中心。使用冗余分析方法(RDA)分析了仔稚鱼密度与环境因子的关系, 发现水温、透明度、流量均为影响仔稚鱼群落结构的主要环境因子。水位与仔稚鱼密度相关性分析表明, 两者呈极显著相关(P<0.01)。研究表明, 湖口江段鱼类早期资源较为丰富, 仔稚鱼群落结构主要以中小型鱼类为主, 且江湖洄游性鱼类占比较高; 仔稚鱼对各环境条件有着不同适应特点, 仔稚鱼与水温、透明度、流量均呈现出不同程度的相关关系。研究结果补充了湖口江段鱼类早期资源的基础资料, 为长江中下游鱼类资源保护策略的制定提供了科学依据。     

基于鱼类多样性与生物完整性的海南岛南渡江河流健康评价

根据2016—2017年南渡江鱼类资源调查数据,通过分析渔获生物量、相对重要性指数IRI、Pielou均匀性指数、Margalef丰富度指数和Shannon多样性指数评估了南渡江的鱼类生物多样性。基于鱼类生物完整性指数IBI构建了两套评价体系,分别评价了南渡江的局部健康状况及其与历史的差异。鱼类多样性研究结果表明:群落中存在尼罗罗非鱼(Oreochromis niloticu)、鳙(Aristichthys nobilis)、海南似鱎(Toxabramis houdemeri)、(Hemiculter leucisulus)等16种优势种;Margalef丰富度指数和Shannon多样性指数均显示,以南渡江源头及河口采样点的数值较高,中部采样点数值较低;Pielou均匀性指数则表现为南渡江中部采样点数值高,两端采样点的低。鱼类生物完整性评价结果表明:南渡江保存了历史的大部分鱼类,各项百分比指标与历史的变化幅度在0.2%~10.5%,而种类指标变化范围在0~4种;从南渡江局部江段来看,中游江段评价得分仅为19分,远低于其他江段的36~46分。研究表明:南渡江鱼类生物多样性和生物完整性保存完好,河流健康状况好;在河流内部,源头和河口生物多样性高且完整性好,而河流中游健康状况差。     

长江中游鱼类资源量的估算

为了解长江中游的鱼类资源现状,于2018年5和6月以及9和10月在宜昌、石首、洪湖、武汉和湖口5个江段进行了渔获物调查工作。通过统计各江段的渔业捕捞情况,计算年捕捞量。用体长股分析方法,对铜鱼(Coreius heterodon)、鳊(Parabramis pekinensis)和瓦氏黄颡鱼(Tachysurus vachelli)的资源量进行估算,并以此推算各江段的鱼类总资源量。结果显示,宜昌江段的鱼类年总资源量1077.36 t,其中,铜鱼为623.25 t;石首江段的年总资源量为2190.74 t,铜鱼为698.19 t;洪湖江段的鱼类年总资源量为58.57 t,其中,瓦氏黄颡鱼为0.41 t;武汉江段的鱼类年总资源量1010.54 t,其中,鳊为148.65 t;湖口江段的年鱼类总资源量14.55 t,瓦氏黄颡鱼为0.032 t。估算结果可以为长江中游鱼类资源保护措施的制定提供数据参考。     

桂林岩溶石山青冈群落植物功能性状的种间和种内变异研究

研究植物功能性状的种间和种内变异,有助于揭示植物对环境的适应策略及其群落构建机制研究。以桂林岩溶石山青冈群落主要木本植物为研究对象,选取叶干物质含量（LDMC）、叶厚度（LT）、比叶面积（SLA）和木材密度（WD）4个功能性状,采用混合线性模型结合方差分解方法对其在种内和种间尺度的变异程度和相对贡献进行分析,同时运用零模型方法探讨驱动岩溶石山青冈群落构建的潜在机制。结果表明：（1） LDMC,LT,SLA和WD这4个性状在种内和种间水平上均存在不同程度的变异幅度,种间变异大于种内变异,但种内变异亦不容忽略。（2）零模型检验表明,将种内变异纳入考虑的环境过滤检测得到改善,基于个体性状值的尺度考虑群落构建机制研究是必要的。（3）对于桂林岩溶石山青冈群落,环境过滤作用确实是群落构建的重要驱动机制,与相似性限制作用和随机作用共同塑造了以青冈为优势物种的群落构建。     

浑河水系着生藻类的群落结构与生物完整性

以辽宁省浑河水系为研究范例,调查了全流域范围内62个样点的着生藻类群落和水环境理化特征,并应用着生藻类生物完整性评价指数(P-IBI),结合栖息地环境质量评价指数(QHEI),对浑河流域水生态系统进行健康评价.结果表明:浑河水系着生藻类群落结构具有明显的空间异质性,浑河水系的采样点可划分为4组(Group),不同组间的着生藻类群落结构、物种多度、密度和香农多样性指数均存在明显差异.典范对应分析(CCA)结果显示,驱动浑河着生藻类群落结构形成的水环境因子为铵氮( NH4+-N)和活性磷(PO43--P).P-IBI和QHEI在浑河水系某些河段上的评价结果有较大出入,但从全流域尺度上看,P-IBI和QHEI的评价结果基本一致,表现为浑河上游的苏子河健康状况较好,而上游的浑河以及中下游的浑河干流健康状况较差.     

三峡库区鱼类群落结构和功能多样性

物种的功能特征是联系群落结构和功能的关键因素,开展功能多样性研究可以更好地理解群落结构和功能的关系。为了解三峡库区鱼类群落结构和功能多样性的空间格局,作者于2019年和2020年对三峡库区库首秭归、库中云阳、库尾巴南及库首支流香溪河下游峡口、库中支流小江下游高阳、库尾支流嘉陵江下游合川等江段的鱼类进行调查,分析了鱼类群落结构和多样性,从摄食、运动和繁殖3个方面探讨了鱼类功能多样性空间格局。在三峡库区及主要支流共采集到鱼类78种,隶属于6目15科56属。各江段以广适性和静水性鱼类为主,其中库首秭归和支流香溪河下游峡口、小江下游高阳江段的短颌鲚(Coilia brachygnathus)和贝氏?(Hemiculter bleekeri)等静水性鱼类相对丰度较高,库中云阳、库尾巴南和支流嘉陵江下游合川江段的蛇鮈(Saurogobio dabryi)和光泽黄颡鱼(Pelteobagrus nitidus)等广适性鱼类相对丰度较高。非度量多维尺度(non-metric multidimensional scale, NMDS)和Bray-Curtis相异性指数分析表明,秭归和嘉陵江下游合川江段群...     

长白山温带森林不同演替阶段群落功能性状的空间变化

群落构建机制研究是生态学研究的热点。长白山自然保护区拥有完整的原始阔叶红松林生态系统, 近年来随着物种多样性丧失愈发严重, 对该地区开展群落构建机制研究显得尤为重要。该研究以长白山不同演替阶段的3块5.2 hm ²固定监测样地(次生杨桦林、次生针阔混交林、原始椴树红松林)为研究对象, 通过采集样地内主要树种的6个关键功能性状(叶面积、比叶面积、叶片厚度、叶氮含量、叶磷含量、最大树高), 分析不同空间尺度下(5 m × 5 m, 10 m × 10 m, 20 m × 20 m, 30 m × 30 m, 40 m × 40 m, 50 m × 50 m和60 m × 60 m)及不同演替阶段群落性状空间值的变化, 结合零模型的模拟结果对长白山温带森林演替过程中的群落构建机制进行讨论。结果表明: 种库大小对于研究结果具有重要影响。在较大的种库下, 环境过滤作用影响显著。而在样地水平进行研究时, 演替早期和中期, 群落性状空间值与零模型模拟值无显著差异, 在演替的晚期, 群落性状空间值显著高于零模型模拟值。结合多个群落功能多样性指数分析发现, 环境过滤和竞争作用共同决定该地区顶级群落的物种组成。在演替早期大量物种迁入, 群落内物种间存在强烈的资源竞争, 而随着演替进行, 部分物种逐渐被竞争排除出群落, 群落中的物种呈现明显的生态位分化, 竞争作用是维持物种共存的主要机制。     

长江常熟江段渔业群落结构及物种多样性初步研究

对2000～2006年长江常熟江段渔业群落及物种多样性进行了研究。该江段共有鱼、虾蟹类66种,分别隶属于13目29科。鲤形目鱼类最多,其次是鲈形目。按迁徙习性可分为江湖半洄游性鱼类、洄游性鱼类、河口鱼类和定居性鱼类4大类型。经济鱼类占优势,群落优势种为鳊、鲫、刀鲚、铜鱼、翘嘴红鲌和条。多样性特征值年间平均指标为:Margalef指数(R)1.68,Wilhm改进指数(H")2.50,McNaughton指数(Dw)0.37,Pielou指数(J')0.76。鱼类群落优势度较低,丰富度、均匀度、多样性处于较高水平。探讨了水利工程、水域污染及水利调度对该江段渔业资源的不利影响,提出了开发和保护该江段渔业资源的建议。     

不同空间尺度西藏色季拉山急尖长苞冷杉群落谱系结构特征

基于西藏色季拉山4 hm²亚高山暗针叶林固定样地调查数据,分析了急尖长苞冷杉群落内6个径级(1～2、2～4、4～7、7～11、11～16、>16 cm)的植物在5个空间尺度(5 m×5 m、10 m×10 m、20 m×20 m、50 m×50 m、100 m×100 m)上的谱系结构。结果表明: 不同空间尺度上,该群落的净谱系亲缘关系指数(NRI)和净最近种间亲缘关系指数(NTI)值均大于零,整体上表现为谱系聚集。在小空间尺度(5 m×5 m)上,谱系结构聚集强度最大。在所有空间尺度上,群落内小径级个体表现为谱系聚集,随着径级的增大(DBH>7 cm),逐渐表现为谱系发散,且发散程度随径级增加而增大。小径级个体的谱系聚集强度随空间尺度而增大;而大径级个体(DBH>7 cm)的谱系发散程度随空间尺度增加而增大。小径级群落的生境过滤和大径级群落的竞争排斥作用可能是驱动该区域急尖长苞冷杉群落构建的主要生态学过程。     

Dissecting spatiotemporal patterns of functional diversity through the lens of Darwin's naturalization conundrum

Darwin's naturalization conundrum describes the paradigm that community assembly is regulated by two opposing processes, environmental filtering and competitive interactions, which predict both similarity and distinctiveness of species to be important for establishment. Our goal is to use long‐term, large‐scale, and high‐resolution temporal data to examine diversity patterns over time and assess whether environmental filtering or competition plays a larger role in regulating community assembly processes. We evaluated Darwin's naturalization conundrum and how functional diversity has changed in the Laurentian Great Lakes fish community from 1870 to 2010, which has experienced frequent introductions of non‐native species and extirpations of native species. We analyzed how functional diversity has changed over time by decade from 1870 to 2010 at three spatial scales (regional, lake, and habitat) to account for potential noninteractions between species at the regional and lake level. We also determined which process, environmental filtering or competitive interactions, is more important in regulating community assembly and maintenance by comparing observed patterns to what we would expect in the absence of an ecological mechanism. With the exception of one community, all analyses show that functional diversity and species richness has increased over time and that environmental filtering regulates community assembly at the regional level. When examining functional diversity at the lake and habitat level, the regulating processes become more context dependent. This study is the first to examine diversity patterns and Darwin's conundrum by integrating long‐term, large‐scale, and high‐resolution temporal data at multiple spatial scales. Our results confirm that Darwin's conundrum is highly context dependent.     

Phylogenetic community structure in Minnesota oak savanna is influenced by spatial extent and environmental variation

The relative importance of environmental filtering, biotic interactions and neutral processes in community assembly remains an openly debated question and one that is increasingly addressed using phylogenetic approaches. Closely related species may occur together more frequently than expected (phylogenetic clustering) if environmental filtering operates on traits with significant phylogenetic signal. Recent studies show that phylogenetic clustering tends to increase with spatial scale, presumably because greater environmental variation is encompassed at larger spatial scales, providing opportunities for species to sort across environmental gradients. However, if environmental filtering is the cause of species sorting along environmental gradients, then environmental variation rather than spatial scale per se should drive the processes governing community assembly. Using species abundance and light availability data from a long‐term experiment in Minnesota oak savanna understory communities, we explicitly test the hypothesis that greater environmental variation results in greater phylogenetic clustering when spatial scale is held constant. Concordant with previous studies, we found that phylogenetic community structure varied with spatial extent. At the landscape scale (~1000 ha), communities were phylogenetically clustered. At the local scale (0.375ha), phylogenetic community structure varied among plots. As hypothesized, plots encompassing the greatest environmental variation in light availability exhibited the strongest phylogenetic clustering. We also found strong correlations between species functional traits, particularly specific leaf area (SLA) and perimeter per area (PA), and species light availability niche. There was also a phylogenetic signal in both functional traits and species light availability niche, providing a mechanistic explanation for phylogenetic clustering in relation to light availability. We conclude that the pattern of increased phylogenetic clustering with increased environmental variation is a consequence of environmental filtering acting on phylogenetically conserved functional traits. These results indicate that the importance of environmental filtering in community assembly depends not on spatial scale per se, but on the steepness of the environmental gradient.     

Shared environmental responses drive co‐occurrence patterns in river bird communities

Positive or negative patterns of co‐occurrence might imply an influence of biotic interactions on community structure. However, species may co‐occur simply because of shared environmental responses. Here, we apply two complementary modelling methodologies – a probabilistic model of significant pairwise associations and a hierarchical multivariate probit regression model – to 1) attribute co‐occurrence patterns in 100 river bird communities to either shared environmental responses or to other ecological mechanisms such as interaction with heterospecifics, and 2) examine the strength of evidence for four alternative models of community structure. Species co‐occurred more often than would be expected by random community assembly and the species composition of bird communities was highly structured. Co‐occurrence patterns were primarily explained by shared environmental responses; species’ responses to the environmental variables were highly divergent, with both strong positive and negative environmental correlations occurring. We found limited evidence for behaviour‐driven assemblage patterns in bird communities at a large spatial scale, although statistically significant positive associations amongst some species suggested the operation of facilitative mechanisms such as heterospecific attraction. This lends support to an environmental filtering model of community assembly as being the principle mechanism shaping river bird community structure. Consequently, species interactions may be reduced to an ancillary role in some avifaunal communities, meaning if shared environmental responses are not quantified studies of co‐occurrence may overestimate the role of species interactions in shaping community structure.     

Assembly rules of ectoparasite communities across scales: combining patterns of abiotic factors,host composition,geographic space,phylogeny and traits

We investigated the role of environmental filtering as an underlying mechanism of assembly of compound communities of fleas parasitic on Palearctic small mammals at two spatial scales; a continental scale (encompassing regions across the entire Palearctic) and a regional scale (across sampling localities within Slovakia). We used the three‐table ordination (the RLQ analysis) and its extended version that links species occurrences with geographic space, environmental variables, and species traits and phylogeny (the ESLTP analysis). We asked whether environmental filtering acts as an assembly rule of compound communities of fleas and, if yes, a) whether the effect of environment on species composition of compound communities of fleas differs between spatial scales and b) what are the relative importance of the abiotic and host environments. We found that compound communities of fleas are, to a great extent, assembled via environmental filters that represent interplay between filtering via abiotic environment and filtering via host composition. The relative importance of these two components of environmental filtering differed between spatial scales. Host composition had a stronger effect on flea assembly than abiotic environment on the continental scale, while the opposite was true for the regional scale. The likely reason behind this scale‐dependence is that communities on the regional scale are mainly governed by ecological and epidemiological processes, while communities on the continental scale are mainly affected by evolutionary, biogeographic and historical forces.     

Relative importance of spatial processes and environmental factors in shaping alpine meadow communities

Aims Spatial processes and environmental control are the two distinct, yet not mutually exclusive forces of community structuring, but the relative importance of these factors is controversial due to the species-specific dispersal ability, sensitivity towards environmental variables, organism's abundance and the effect of spatial scale. In the present paper, we explored spatial versus environmental control in shaping community composition (i.e. β-diversity) and species turnover (i.e. change of β-diversity) at an alpine meadow along a slope aspect gradient on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau at different spatial scales of sampling (quadrats and plots), by taking account of seed dispersal mode and abundance.Methods We examined the relative importance of spatial processes and environmental factors using all species and four additional subsets of selected species. Moreover, we attempted to explore the effect of scale (quadrat refers to scale of ~0.3 m and plot of ~8 m) on their counter balance. The data were analyzed both by variation partitioning and multiple regressions on distance matrices. The spatial structure was modelled using Moran's eigenvector maps (MEM).Important findings Both spatial processes and environmental factors were important determinants of the community composition and species turnover. The community composition in the alpine meadow was controlled by spatially structured environment (17.6%), space independent of environment (18.0%) and a negligible effect of environment independent of space (4.4%) at the scale of quadrats. These three components contributed 21.8, 9.9 and 13.9%, respectively, at the scale of plots. The balance between the forces at different spatial scales drove community structures along the slope aspect gradient. The importance of environmental factors on β-diversity at alpine meadow increased with scale while that of spatial processes decreased or kept steady, depending on dispersal mode and abundance of species comprising the subset. But the 'pure' effect of spatial processes on species turnover increased with scale while that of environmental factors decreased. This discrepancy highlights that β-diversity and species turnover were determined jointly by spatial processes and environmental factors. We also found that the relative roles of these processes vary with spatial scale. These results underline the importance of considering species-specific dispersal ability and abundance of species comprising the communities and the appropriate spatial scale in understanding the mechanisms of community assembly.     

Environmental filtering by pH and soil nutrients drives community assembly in fungi at fine spatial scales

Whether niche processes, like environmental filtering, or neutral processes, like dispersal limitation, are the primary forces driving community assembly is a central question in ecology. Here, we use a natural experimental system of isolated tree “islands” to test whether environment or geography primarily structures fungal community composition at fine spatial scales. This system consists of isolated pairs of two distantly related, congeneric pine trees established at varying distances from each other and the forest edge, allowing us to disentangle the effects of geographic distance vs. host and edaphic environment on associated fungal communities. We identified fungal community composition with Illumina sequencing of ITS amplicons, measured all relevant environmental parameters for each tree—including tree age, size and soil chemistry—and calculated geographic distances from each tree to all others and to the nearest forest edge. We applied generalized dissimilarity modelling to test whether total and ectomycorrhizal fungal (EMF) communities were primarily structured by geographic or environmental filtering. Our results provide strong evidence that as in many other organisms, niche and neutral processes both contribute significantly to turnover in community composition in fungi, but environmental filtering plays the dominant role in structuring both free‐living and symbiotic fungal communities at fine spatial scales. In our study system, we found pH and organic matter primarily drive environmental filtering in total soil fungal communities and that pH and cation exchange capacity—and, surprisingly, not host species—were the largest factors affecting EMF community composition. These findings support an emerging paradigm that pH may play a central role in the assembly of all soil‐mediated systems.     

长江中下游岸带(宜昌-铜陵段)湿生植物的群落构建机制研究

沿长江中下游（宜昌-铜陵段）13座城市共37个位点,分别于丰水期和枯水期对岸带的湿生植物进行调查,从物种和系统发育2个维度研究群落的构建机制,并结合环境和空间因子探讨其驱动因素。结果显示：（1）丰水期湿生植物群落的α多样性高于枯水期,且丰水期α多样性主要与水分条件呈正相关,而枯水期则主要与温度和土壤总氮含量有关。（2）丰水期的系统发育结构指数呈聚集趋势,暗示生境过滤起着主导作用,而枯水期的NRI（net relatedness index）和NTI（nearest taxon index）呈不同趋势,暗示存在近期的群落分化。（3）群落的α多样性在物种层面和系统发育层面存在显著关联性,其多样性水平可在一定程度上互为表征。（4）长江中下游沿岸湿生植物群落的构建机制在不同时期存在差异,丰水期的群落构建是环境筛选和扩散限制共同作用的结果,且以环境筛选作用占主导,而枯水期的群落构建仅在物种层面受一定程度环境筛选作用的影响。（5）大生境的温度变化、微生境的土壤水分和养分条件是影响长江中下游岸带湿生植物群落差异的主要驱动因素。该研究结果可为长江中下游岸带湿地生态系统的管理和保护提供科学支持。     

Phylogenetic community ecology and the role of social dominance in sponge-dwelling shrimp

When functional traits are evolutionarily conserved, phylogenetic relatedness can serve as a proxy for ecological similarity to examine whether functional differences among species mediate community assembly. Using phylogenetic- and trait-based analyses, we demonstrate that sponge-dwelling shrimp (Synalpheus) assemblages are structured by size-based habitat filtering, interacting with competitive exclusion mediated by social system. Most shrimp communities were more closely related and/or more similar in size than randomized communities, consistent with habitat filtering facilitated by phylogenetically conserved body size. Those sponges with greater space heterogeneity hosted shrimp communities with greater size diversity, corroborating the importance of size in niche use. However, communities containing eusocial shrimp - which cooperatively defend territories - were less phylogenetically related and less similar in size, suggesting that eusociality enhances competitive ability and drives competitive exclusion. Our analyses demonstrate that community assembly in this diverse system occurs via traits mediating niche use and differential competitive ability.     

Biological quality metrics: their variability and appropriate scale for assessing streams

The concept of spatial scale is at the research frontier in ecology, and although focus has been placed on trying to determine the role of spatial scale in structuring communities, there still is a further need to standardize which organism groups are to be used at which scale and under which circumstances in environmental assessment. This paper contributes to the understanding of the variability at different spatial scales (reach, stream, river basin) of metrics characterizing communities of different biological quality elements (macrophytes, fishes, macroinvertebrates and benthic diatoms) as defined by the Water Framework Directive. For this purpose, high-quality reaches from medium-sized lowland streams of Latvia, Ecoregion 15 (Baltic) were sampled using a nested hierarchical sampling design: (river basin → stream → reach). The variability of metrics within the different groups of biological quality elements confirmed that large-bodied organisms (macrophytes and fish) were less variable than small-bodied organisms (macroinvertebrates and benthic diatoms) at reach, stream and river basin scales. Single metrics of biological quality elements had the largest variation at the reach scale compared with stream and basin scales. There were no significant correlations between biodiversity indices of the different organism groups. The correlation between diversity indices (Shannon’s and Simpson’s) of the biological quality elements (macrophytes, fish, benthic macroinvertebrates and benthic diatoms) and a number of measured environmental variables varied among the different organism groups. Relationships between diversity indices and environmental factors were established for all groups of biological quality elements. Our results showed that metrics of macrophytes and fish could be used for assessing ecological quality at the river basin scale, whereas metrics of macroinvertebrates and benthic diatoms were most appropriate at a smaller scale.