Scales of spatiotemporal variability in macroinvertebrate abundance and diversity in monsoonal streams: detecting environmental change

1. We quantified spatial and temporal variability in benthic macroinvertebrate species richness, diversity and abundance in six unpolluted streams in monsoonal Hong Kong at different scales using a nested sampling design. The spatial scales were regions, stream sites and stream sections within sites; temporal scales were years (1997–99), seasons (dry versus wet seasons) and days within seasons. 2. Spatiotemporal variability in total abundance and species richness was greater during the wet season, especially at small scales, and tended to obscure site‐ and region‐scale differences, which were more conspicuous during the dry season. Total abundance and richness were greater in the dry season, reflecting the effects of spate‐induced disturbance during the wet season. Species diversity showed little variation at the seasonal scale, but variability at the site scale was apparent during both seasons. 3. Despite marked variations in monsoonal rainfall, inter‐year differences in macroinvertebrate richness and abundance at the site scale during the wet season were minor. Inter‐year differences were only evident during the dry season when streams were at base flow and biotic interactions may structure assemblages. 4. Small‐scale patchiness within riffles was the dominant spatial scale of variation in macroinvertebrate richness, total abundance and densities of common species, although site or region was important for some species. The proportion of total variance contributed by small‐scale spatial variability increased during the dry season, whereas temporal variability associated with days was greater during the wet season. 5. The observed patterns of spatiotemporal variation have implications for detection of environmental change or biomonitoring using macroinvertebrate indicators in streams in monsoonal regions. Sampling should be confined to the dry season or, in cases where more resources are available, make use of data from both dry and wet seasons. Sampling in more than one dry season is required to avoid the potentially confounding effects of inter‐year variation, although variability at that scale was relatively small.     

Temporal Patterns and Environmental Correlates of Macroinvertebrate Communities in Temporary Streams

Temporary streams are characterised by short periods of seasonal or annual stream flow after which streams contract into waterholes or pools of varying hydrological connectivity and permanence. Although these streams are widespread globally, temporal variability of their ecology is understudied, and understanding the processes that structure community composition in these systems is vital for predicting and managing the consequences of anthropogenic impacts. We used multivariate and univariate approaches to investigate temporal variability in macroinvertebrate compositional data from 13 years of sampling across multiple sites from autumn and spring, in South Australia, the driest state in the driest inhabited continent in the world. We examined the potential of land-use, geographic and environmental variables to predict the temporal variability in macroinvertebrate assemblages, and also identified indicator taxa, that is, those highly correlated with the most significantly associated physical variables. Temporal trajectories of macroinvertebrate communities varied within site in both seasons and across years. A combination of land-use, geographic and environmental variables accounted for 24% of the variation in community structure in autumn and 27% in spring. In autumn, community composition among sites were more closely clustered together relative to spring suggesting that communities were more similar in autumn than in spring. In both seasons, community structure was most strongly correlated with conductivity and latitude, and community structure was more associated with cover by agriculture than urban land-use. Maintaining temporary streams will require improved catchment management aimed at sustaining seasonal flows and critical refuge habitats, while also limiting the damaging effects from increased agriculture and urban developments.     

Among-habitat and Temporal Variability of Selected Macroinvertebrate Based Metrics in a Mediterranean Shallow Lake (NW Spain)

According to the European Water Framework Directive, waterbodies have to be classified on the basis of their ecological status using biological quality elements, such as macroinvertebrates. This needs to take into consideration the influence of natural variation (both spatial and temporal) of reference biological communities as this may obscure the effects caused by anthropogenic disturbance. We studied the influence of among-habitat and temporal (seasonal and interannual) changes on the macroinvertebrate communities of an Iberian shallow lake and the variability of 21 measures potentially useful for bioindication purposes. Two series of data were examined: (a) macroinvertebrate samples taken on four occasions over an annual cycle were used to assess the effects of seasonality and among-habitat variability; (b) macroinvertebrate samples collected in three consecutive summers were used to assess interannual variability. Coefficients of variation, expressed as percentage, were used to quantify the effect of among-habitat and temporal variability on the selected metrics. According to our results, % Insecta, Shannon–Wiener diversity index and the qualitative taxonomic metrics (measures based on number of taxa) were robust in terms of temporal (seasonal and interannual) and among-habitat variability. Abundance ratio and some metrics based on functional feeding groups were highly variable. Therefore, qualitative taxonomic metrics may be promising tools in biomonitoring programs of Mediterranean shallow lakes due to their comparatively low variability.     

安宁河中游底栖动物群落结构及其与环境因子的关系

为了解安宁河底栖动物群落结构及其影响因素, 分别于丰水期(2015年7、8月)和枯水期(2016年1、2月)开展了安宁河中游干支流底栖动物的2次调查, 并于2015年7月至2016年6月进行安宁河支流的周年调查。共检出底栖动物5门115属122种, 其中水生昆虫居多(109种)。干流丰、枯水期底栖动物的密度和生物量都明显低于支流, 丰水期干支流底栖动物的密度和生物量都明显低于枯水期。安宁河支流全年优势种为四节蜉(Baetis sp.)、蚋(Simulium sp.)、高翔蜉(Epeorus sp.)、花翅蜉(Baetiella sp.)、扁襀(Peltoperlidae spp.)和小蜉(Ephemerella sp.)。安宁河支流底栖动物密度以12月最高, 7月最低; 生物量以1月最高, 7月最低。典范对应分析(CCA)分析结果显示, 影响丰水期安宁河底栖动物分布的关键环境因子为底质类型和海拔, 影响枯水期底栖动物分布的主要环境因子为流速、海拔和水温; 影响安宁河支流底栖动物群落结构周年变化的主要环境因子为水温与电导。研究为高海拔地区河流生物多样性研究和保护提供科学参考。     

Scales of spatiotemporal variation in macroinvertebrate assemblage structure in monsoonal streams: the importance of season

1. We assessed the relative importance of different scales of spatial and temporal variability on benthic macroinvertebrate assemblage structure in six unpolluted streams in monsoonal Hong Kong using ordination and complementary multivariate analyses. The spatial scales were regions, sites (streams) and sections (riffles) within sites. The temporal scales were years (three, including one with unusually high rainfall), seasons (dry versus wet) and days within seasons. 2. Significant differences in assemblage structure were manifested at all temporal scales. Those at the site scale were most obvious, whereas demarcation of assemblage structure at the section (riffle) scale was smaller, and there was no significant regional differentiation in assemblage structure. Seasonal variability in assemblage structure was greater than that among years or days. 3. Inter‐year differences in assemblage structure were recorded at all sites, and were noted among all years at some sites but not at others. They were recorded more frequently during the dry season, although their occurrence (in pair‐wise comparisons between years) appeared to be related to differences in the monsoonal (wet season) rainfall. 4. Seasonal differences in assemblage structure were strongly evident at all sites. Inter‐site differences were more apparent during the dry season when local (site‐scale) influences on assemblages were stronger. By contrast, wet‐season samples were more variable because of spate‐induced disturbance, and inter‐site differentiation was less distinct. 5. Differences among days at all sites were relatively minor, but shifts attributable to repeated spate‐induced disturbance were evident at some sites during the wet season. 6. Differences at the section scale were recorded more frequently during the dry season, when the extent of within‐site variability among sections was higher, reflecting increased patchiness within sections resulting from increased substratum heterogeneity and/or greater intensity of biotic interactions. 7. Seasonal shifts in macroinvertebrate assemblage structure at a variety of scales in Hong Kong streams are likely to be attributable to monsoonal rains affecting the relative intensity of abiotic disturbance and biotic interactions in accordance with the harsh‐benign hypothesis.     

Macroinvertebrate Assemblages of an Andean High‐Altitude Tropical Stream: The Importance of Season and Flow

We studied the Piburja stream, a high‐altitude tropical stream in Ecuador. Our main goals were to determine whether the macroinvertebrate community composition and abundance differed between seasons, reaches and velocity patches. Likewise, we aimed to examine the importance of the hydrological regime in determining these differences. Flow was significantly higher in the wet season, but the stability of flow was higher in the dry season. There was a strong increase in macroinvertebrate community metrics (richness, density and diversity) in the dry season. Seasons and velocity patches better explained the community composition. Reaches did not show differences at the community level, but some taxa showed significant differences among reaches. Our findings differed from those published in previous studies that have suggested that mountain tropical streams are non‐seasonal. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Long-term population and community patterns of benthic macroinvertebrates and fishes in Northern California Mediterranean-climate streams

Long-term studies can document temporal patterns in freshwater ecosystems, and this is particularly important in mediterranean-climate (med-climate) regions because of strong interannual variation in precipitation amounts and consequently stream flow. We review long-term studies of populations and communities of benthic macroinvertebrate and fishes from sites throughout the med-climate region of California and develop generalities that may apply broadly to med-climate streams worldwide. Severe drought may result in community shifts, and alter age-structure in both macroinvertebrates and fishes. Within-year seasonal patterns in macroinvertebrate communities can be influenced by annual variability in flow regimes. Macroinvertebrate biological-monitoring metrics with consistently low intra-annual variability may be especially applicable in med-climate streams, as is the use of different temporal windows to describe reference periods to reduce influence of interannual variability on impact detection. Long-term data can be used to develop macroinvertebrate-based metrics that can either show or be independent of climate-change effects. Most macroinvertebrate species are temporally rare in their annual occurrence. Multiple components of natural flow regimes can favor native over invasive fishes. Long-term, quantitative information from med-climate streams is generally lacking, which is a hindrance to both management practices and development of appropriate ecological constructs.     

渭河丰、枯水期底栖动物群落特征及综合健康评价

以渭河为研究范例,分别于丰水期(2011年10月)和枯水期(2012年4月)对渭河全流域范围内45个样点的底栖动物群落进行跟踪调查,并在此基础上应用丰、枯水期底栖动物生物完整性评价指数(B-IBI)对渭河流域水生态系统进行综合健康评价。结果表明,渭河流域底栖动物群落结构具有明显的空间异质性,枯水期底栖动物群落结构单一,物种数量、生物量和香农多样性明显少于丰水期,但单位密度差异不显著。综合健康评价结果表明,渭河上游、洛河中上游地区的健康状况较好,而渭河中下游、泾河全流域及洛河下游地区的健康状况较差。相关分析显示,渭河全流域范围内丰水期和枯水期底栖动物群落的B-IBI得分呈现明显的正相关性,表明在不同水文过程时期,渭河全流域大尺度范围内底栖动物群落的生物完整性特征较为一致。在河流丰、枯水期,底栖动物群落结构的变化趋势并对比分析了渭河流域不同区域水生态系统健康水平差异的原因。     

Temporal dynamics of benthic macroinvertebrate communities and their response to elevated specific conductance in Appalachian coalfield headwater streams

Coal mining in central Appalachia USA causes increased specific conductance in receiving streams. Researchers have examined benthic macroinvertebrate community structure in such streams using temporally discrete measurements of SC and benthic macroinvertebrates; however, both SC and benthic macroinvertebrate communities exhibit intra-annual variation. Twelve central Appalachian headwater streams with reference quality physical habitat and physicochemical conditions (except for elevated SC in eight streams) were sampled ≤fourteen times each between June 2011 and November 2012 to evaluate benthic macroinvertebrate community structure. Specific conductance was recorded at each sampling event and by in situ data loggers. Streams were classified by mean SC Level (Reference, 17–142 μS/cm; Medium, 262–648 μS/cm; and High, 756–1535 μS/cm). Benthic macroinvertebrate community structure was quantified using fifteen metrics selected to characterize community composition and presence of taxa from orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera. Metrics were analyzed for differences among SC Levels and months of sampling. Reference streams differed significantly from Medium-SC and High-SC streams for 11 metrics. Medium-SC streams had the most metrics exhibiting significant differences among months. Relative abundances of Plecoptera and Trichoptera were not sensitive to SC, as the families Leuctridae and Hydropsychidae exhibited increased relative abundance (vs. reference) in streams with elevated SC. In contrast, Ephemeroptera richness and relative abundance were lower, relative to reference, in elevated-SC streams despite increased relative abundance of Baetidae. Temporal variability was evident in several metrics due to influence by taxa with seasonal life cycles. These results demonstrate that benthic macroinvertebrate communities in elevated-SC streams are altered from reference condition, and that metrics differ in SC sensitivity. The time of year when samples are taken influenced measured levels and differences from reference condition for most metrics.     

Spatial and seasonal variability of macroinvertebrate metrics: Do macroinvertebrate communities track river health?

The present study analyses the relationships of a set of 19 macroinvertebrate community metrics in relation to hydromorphological and water quality stress gradients in the Pas river basin, Northern Spain. Moreover, this study also aims to identify the most sensible season for biomonitoring this temperate Atlantic basin by means of macroinvertebrate communities. Thus, macroinvertebrate communities were analysed, along with the physicochemical characteristics of water in January, April, August and November 2005, in 9 sites. Hydromorphological conditions were evaluated using the Hydrogeomorphologic Index and by quantifying the percentage of reinforced banks, the number of low-head dams and their distance to each study site. Hydromorphological and water quality stress gradients were determined by means of two independent Principal Component Analysis. Thus, we obtained two water quality stress gradients, indicating organic pollution and watershed runoff, respectively, and a hydromorphological stress gradient. Macroinvertebrate metrics correlated better with the hydromorphological and the organic pollution stress gradients during the stable flow season, probably because of the homogenisation of water and hydraulic characteristics in the high flow season. On the other hand, relationships between macroinvertebrate metrics and watershed runoff stress gradient seem to be more dominated by hydraulic conditions than by water quality characteristics. LIFE index and the ICMi were the macroinvertebrate metrics that best correlated with the hydromorphological stress gradient, while EPTt, EPt, IBMWP, ASPT, LIFE, AsMet, Rhet, NoIns% and MACh% were well correlated with the organic pollution stress gradient in the low flow period. EPTt, EPt, ASPT, Rhet, and AsMet did not show significant seasonal differences and, thus, they are recommended as appropriate metrics to integrate biomonitoring results from different seasons in temperate European Atlantic rivers. Finally, autumn seems to be the best season to sample macroinvertebrate communities in this temperate Atlantic basin for biomonitoring purposes, and might be also the case for other similar European rivers.     

Spatio-temporal variation of environmental variables and aquatic macroinvertebrate assemblages in Lake Nokoué, a RAMSAR site of Benin

Environmental characteristics and macroinvertebrate assemblages of Lake Nokoué (Benin) were investigated from September 2014 to July 2016. Seasonal and hydroclimatic changes, as well as anthropogenic activities were the overriding factors affecting environmental variables investigated. Analysis of macroinvertebrate community structure with several indices revealed a community structure changing across seasons and differing between the sites. Mollusca, Crustacea and Polychaeta were most abundant in the dry seasons, especially at sites close to the ocean, whereas Oligochaeta and Insecta (Diptera, Heteroptera, Coleoptera, Odonata and Ephemeroptera) were abundant in the wet seasons, especially during flood periods (short wet season) at the sites receiving fresh water and on roots of macrophytes. A redundancy analysis placed habitat suitability (temperature and macrophytes) and trophic status variables (NO₂^?, NO₃^?, conductivity and pH) as structuring drivers for macroinvertebrate assemblages. The current study demonstrates that spatial heterogeneity of macroinvertebrates of Lake Nokoue is related to the dynamics created by input of fresh water (wet seasons) or salt water (dry seasons), as well as spatial heterogeneity of anthropogenic activities (nutrients). It offers insights into the macroinvertebrate dynamics linked to the limnology of a West African lagoon, which could contribute to a better understanding of management and conservation measures.     

Seasonal patterns of stream macroinvertebrate communities in response to anthropogenic stressors in monsoonal Taiwan

Freshwater ecosystems are affected by a variety of anthropogenic stressors. Temporal variability of biotic communities in these ecosystems makes it difficult to accurately assess the impacts of specific stressors, which has seldom been considered in understudied regions of Asia. We studied the seasonal effects of anthropogenic stressors on stream macroinvertebrates based on sampling every three months over two years at five stream sites in central Taiwan. Several macroinvertebrate metrics (taxon richness, Shannon diversity index, and relative abundance of Trichoptera) were lower during the wet season than the dry season. The presence of dams caused changes in the structure of macroinvertebrate communities, decreased the seasonal variability in relative abundances of Trichoptera, as well as resulted in lower dissolved inorganic nitrogen concentrations and larger substrate size. The presence of urban areas had less or no influence on environmental factors and structural changes. However, significantly lower total abundance, taxon richness, and relative abundance of Trichoptera occurred in the presence of either dams and/or urban areas. One key management implication from the present study is that bioassessment utilizing macroinvertebrates should be facilitated by awareness of the potential role of temporal factors on the effects of anthropogenic stressors, especially in monsoonal Asia.     

Temporal patterns in the stability, persistence and condition of stream macroinvertebrate communities: relationships with catchment land-use and regional climate

1. A spatially‐extensive data set of stream macroinvertebrate communities from 49 northern New Zealand sites sampled over a 10‐year period was analysed to assess relationships between the environment (catchment land‐cover, landscape position and regional‐scale weather patterns), and (i) community persistence and stability based on the constancy of species occurrence (presence–absence) and abundance (per cent composition), respectively and (ii) the temporal variability of various community condition metrics. 2. No significant relationship was evident between community stability or persistence within sites and a gradient of increasing land‐use stress (LUS) based on types of upstream land‐cover, with interannual mean similarities at all sites falling within the standard deviations recorded at long‐term reference sites. In contrast, condition metrics were inversely related to LUS. Land‐use appeared to be a key factor influencing community composition among sites whereas climate influenced stability and persistence within sites. 3. Three response trajectories of community variability to increasing LUS were distinguished based on the coefficient of variation of mean interannual similarities, such that (i) persistence and stability appeared to be more variable at developed sites with low LUS and at sites with high stress relative to the variability experienced naturally, but similar to the natural range at intermediate levels of stress (‘sinusoidal response’); (ii) variability in Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera metrics increased at low‐to‐moderate stress and then accelerated rapidly at highly developed sites (‘stepped‐exponential response’) and (iii) variability in a pollution tolerance metric increased rapidly and then maintained a similar level of variability along the remaining stress gradient (‘plateau response’). 4. The results of this study have implications for biomonitoring approaches that assume high temporal persistence and stability of communities to define site impairment. Misclassifications caused by interannual variability could lead to misinterpretation of site condition, if conclusions are based on single annual surveys. Temporal variability in stability and persistence may help distinguish low levels of impairment where a predominantly healthy fauna experiences increased environmental fluctuations.     

Communities in high definition: Spatial and environmental factors shape the micro-distribution of aquatic invertebrates

1. According to metacommunity theories, the structure of natural communities is the result of both environmental filtering and spatial processes, with their relative importance depending on factors including local habitat characteristics, functional features of organisms, and the spatial scale considered. However, few studies have explored environmental and spatial processes in riverine systems at local scales, explicitly incorporating spatial coordinates into multi-taxa distribution models. To address this gap, we conducted a small-scale study to discriminate between abiotic and biotic factors affecting the distribution of aquatic macroinvertebrates, applying metacommunity concepts.
2. We studied a mountain section in each of three perennial streams within the Po River Basin (northern Italy). We sampled macroinvertebrates both in summer and winter, using specific in situ 50-point random sampling grids. Environmental factors, including benthic organic matter (BOM), flow velocity, water depth, and substrate were recorded together with spatial coordinates for each sampling point. The relationships between community metrics (taxon richness, abundance, biomass, biomass–abundance ratio, and functional feeding groups) and explanatory variables (environmental and spatial) were assessed using generalised additive models. The influence of the explanatory variables on community structure was analysed with joint species distribution models.
3. Environmental variables—primarily BOM—were the main drivers affecting community metrics, whereas the effects of spatial variables varied among metrics, streams, and seasons. During summer, community structure was strongly affected by BOM and spatial position within the riverbed, the latter probably being a proxy for mass effects mediated by biotic and stochastic processes. In contrast, community structure was mainly shaped by hydraulic variables in winter.
4. Using macroinvertebrate communities as a model group, our results demonstrate that metacommunity concepts can explain small-scale variability in community structure. We found that both environmental filtering and biotic processes shape local communities, with the strength of these drivers depending on the season. These insights provide baseline knowledge that informs our understanding of ecological responses to environmental variability in contexts including restoration ecology, habitat suitability modelling, and biomonitoring.

     

Habitat heterogeneity and disturbance influence patterns of community temporal variability in a small temperate stream

Both habitat heterogeneity and disturbance can profoundly influence ecological systems at many levels of biological and ecological organization. However, the joint influences of heterogeneity and disturbance on temporal variability in communities have received little attention despite the intense homogenizing influence of human activity. I performed a field manipulation of substrate heterogeneity in a small New England stream, and measured changes in benthic macroinvertebrate communities for 100 days—a period that included both a severe drought and a flood. Generally, community variability decreased with increasing substrate heterogeneity. However, within sampling intervals, this relationship tended to fluctuate through time, apparently tracking changes in hydrology. At the beginning of the experiment, community temporal variability clearly decreased along a gradient of increasing substrate heterogeneity—a result consistent with an observational study performed the previous year. During the subsequent weeks, droughts and flooding created exceptionally high variability in both hydrology and benthic macroinvertebrate community structure resulting in the disappearance of this relationship. However, during the last weeks of the experiment when hydrologic conditions were relatively more stable, the negatively sloped relationship between community temporal variability and habitat heterogeneity reemerged and mimicked relationships observed both early in the experiment and in the previous year’s study. High habitat heterogeneity may promote temporal stability through several mechanisms including stabilization of resources and increased refugia from minor disturbances or predation. However, the results of this experiment suggest that severe disturbance events can create large-scale environmental variability that effectively swamps the influence of habitat heterogeneity, illustrating that a thorough understanding of community temporal variability in natural systems will necessarily consider sources of environmental variability at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Handling editor: L. M. Bini     

Longitudinal and seasonal variation of the benthic macroinvertebrate community and biotic indices in an undisturbed Pyrenean river

The present work aims to analyze the spatio-temporal variability in benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages and biotic indices in an undisturbed and unpolluted Pyrenean river. Samples were collected seasonally over 2 year-cycles (2001–2002) at fifteen sampling sites along the Erro River (Ebro River Basin, Spain) during a exhaustive biomonitoring program following the IBMWP–IASPT scoring system protocol routinely applied in Iberia. Despite absolute values of the biotic indices showed high spatio-temporal variation, the IBMWP–IASPT scoring system proved useful because water quality classes were consistent throughout seasons and years as well as along-river. The original macroinvertebrate families’ presence/absence data matrix was reduced in a number of ways to conduct different statistical procedures in order to detect and separate the underlying near-natural spatial and temporal gradients of the assemblage composition in the Erro River. Along-river, spatial variation of the macroinvertebrate community composition was well assessed by similarity analysis, which clearly detected physical features on the river (drought-affected reach, gorge, towns and flow gauging weirs). Categorical principal component analysis (CATPCA) synthesized and jointly ordered macroinvertebrate samples in a spatio-temporal gradient in the factorial map defined by the first two principal components providing a parsimonious way to assess the assemblages’ variation. These two variation gradients throughout the macroinvertebrate families’ occurrence data were subsequently confirmed separately by several correspondence analyses and revealed additional information, as the representative families for each sampling site group and season could be identified. Furthermore, these spatio-temporal gradients were discussed and put in relation with changes in the aquatic habitat (water temperature, conductivity, total dissolved solids, water velocity, channel width, canopy cover, etc.). The near-natural functioning of the Erro River promoted us to emphasize that conservation efforts should aim to maintain the free-flowing as a permanent source of variability.     

Evaluating Wetland Restoration Success Using Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Assemblages in the Sacramento Valley,California

Currently, there is little professional consensus as to which ecological metrics should be used to measure restoration success in wetlands. Aquatic macroinvertebrate communities have many qualities to recommend them as useful metrics in this manner; yet, they have not been widely used to evaluate wetland restoration success. We examined the macroinvertebrate communities of four restored seasonal wetlands across a chronosequence of postrestoration age and compared them to a remnant natural wetland in the Central Valley of California. We examined two qualitatively different sets of aquatic macroinvertebrate metrics, general measures of community properties (abundance, richness, and diversity) and specific assemblage membership (nonmetric multidimensional scaling and permutational multivariate analysis of variance). Our results using these two different sets of metrics give us different answers. The general measures suggest that wetland macroinvertebrate communities converge on relatively stable values sometime after 10 years postrestoration. The specific assemblage results imply that the particular set of taxa found in restored wetlands is not predictable over the chronosequence we examined. Taken together, our results suggest that aquatic macroinvertebrate communities may be useful for measuring some aspects of restoration success but that there is unlikely to be a final aquatic community pattern indicating restoration success.     

Seasonal variability of macroinvertebrate assemblages in two regions of South Africa: implications for aquatic bioassessment

Seasonal variability of macroinvertebrate assemblages was examined in two regions of South Africa: Western Cape and Mpumalanga. Sampling was undertaken at reference sites using the rapid bioassessment method SASS4 (South African Scoring System, Version 4). This study examined the influence of sampling season on the occurrence of taxa, macroinvertebrate assemblages and SASS scores. In the Western Cape a few taxa were more common at certain times of the year, and multivariate analysis of macroinvertebrate assemblages showed that assemblages grouped by season. The number of taxa and the Average Score per Taxon (ASPT) were significantly different among seasons in the Western Cape, with fewer taxa recorded in winter compared to summer, and significantly higher ASPT values recorded in winter and spring than summer and autumn. Whereas more taxa were recorded in autumn than in spring, a higher proportion of sensitive and high-scoring taxa were recorded in spring. In Mpumalanga macroinvertebrate assemblages did not group by season, and differences in SASS scores were not significant, although more taxa were recorded in winter than in spring or autumn, and ASPTs were slightly higher in winter than in spring. Results are discussed in relation to ecological reference conditions and the interpretation of bioassessment data.     

A comparison of spatially explicit landscape representation methods and their relationship to stream condition

1. Biodiversity, water quality and ecosystem processes in streams are known to be influenced by the terrestrial landscape over a range of spatial and temporal scales. Lumped attributes (i.e. per cent land use) are often used to characterise the condition of the catchment; however, they are not spatially explicit and do not account for the disproportionate influence of land located near the stream or connected by overland flow. 2. We compared seven landscape representation metrics to determine whether accounting for the spatial proximity and hydrological effects of land use can be used to account for additional variability in indicators of stream ecosystem health. The landscape metrics included the following: a lumped metric, four inverse‐distance‐weighted (IDW) metrics based on distance to the stream or survey site and two modified IDW metrics that also accounted for the level of hydrologic activity (HA‐IDW). Ecosystem health data were obtained from the Ecological Health Monitoring Programme in Southeast Queensland, Australia and included measures of fish, invertebrates, physicochemistry and nutrients collected during two seasons over 4 years. Linear models were fitted to the stream indicators and landscape metrics, by season, and compared using an information‐theoretic approach. 3. Although no single metric was most suitable for modelling all stream indicators, lumped metrics rarely performed as well as other metric types. Metrics based on proximity to the stream (IDW and HA‐IDW) were more suitable for modelling fish indicators, while the HA‐IDW metric based on proximity to the survey site generally outperformed others for invertebrates, irrespective of season. There was consistent support for metrics based on proximity to the survey site (IDW or HA‐IDW) for all physicochemical indicators during the dry season, while a HA‐IDW metric based on proximity to the stream was suitable for five of the six physicochemical indicators in the post‐wet season. Only one nutrient indicator was tested and results showed that catchment area had a significant effect on the relationship between land use metrics and algal stable isotope ratios in both seasons. 4. Spatially explicit methods of landscape representation can clearly improve the predictive ability of many empirical models currently used to study the relationship between landscape, habitat and stream condition. A comparison of different metrics may provide clues about causal pathways and mechanistic processes behind correlative relationships and could be used to target restoration efforts strategically.