Assessing ecological health in areas with limited data by using biological traits.
Mar Pollut Bull
; 181: 113900, 2022 Aug.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35810647
ABSTRACT
A multitude of biotic indices that represent environmental status have been developed over the past decades making status comparisons difficult. However, transferring an existing index to a new region can be problematic due to differing stressors, ecosystem components and lack of knowledge on regional species sensitivities. Here we assess whether calculating species sensitivities to specific stressors based on biological traits offers a solution. We use biological traits of macrofaunal species to assess sensitivity to suspended sediment concentrations and calculated the Benthic Quality Index (BQI) at 47 sites across a suspended sediment gradient. This trait-based modification of the BQI was well correlated (0.82) to suspended sediment. Problems previously highlighted, relating to trait plasticity and differential weightings of indifferent and beneficial species, were investigated but did not strongly affect results. A trait-based approach has the additional benefit that the data could be easily converted to evaluate ecosystem function.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Monitoramento Ambiental
/
Ecossistema
Tipo de estudo:
Diagnostic_studies
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Mar Pollut Bull
Ano de publicação:
2022
Tipo de documento:
Article