Integration of ABC curve, three dimensions of alpha diversity indices, and spatial patterns of fish assemblages into the health assessment of the Chishui River basin, China.

ABSTRACT

Index of biotic integrity (IBI) based on fish has been applied globally. However, few have considered that fish assemblages change among different aggregate ecoregions when conducted their health assessment. Indeed, some comprehensive indices, such as functional and phylogenetic diversity indices and ABC curve, can be used to identify aspects that are not captured by traditional metrics. Consequently, we try to integrate comprehensive indices and spatial patterns of fish assemblages to develop IBI systems and then verified their effectiveness and accuracy for assessing the environmental health of the Chishui River basin. The comprehensive disturbance index (CDI), based on 11 water quality parameters and 4 human land use, was set to distinguish reference sites and impaired sites. According to the spatial patterns of fish assemblages, the 40 sites were finally divided into 2 aggregate ecoregions, include wadeable streams and nonwadeable rivers. 97 candidate metrics were selected to develop our IBI systems based on the systematic screening method. The result also showed that our IBI systems performed well in discriminating anthropogenic disturbances at both aggregate ecoregions, which suggests that our systems could provide a reliable evaluation. The mean IBI score of the Chishui River basin was 72.09 ± 16.58, and was classified as good status. However, S1 (Chishuiyuan Town), Baisha River, Tongzi River, and Xishui River were disturbed by various human activities. We conclude that the spatial patterns of fish assemblages should be combined with more comprehensive indices to assess river health. On the other hand, we do believe that the process of developing and verifying our IBI systems could be regarded as a reference for biomonitoring in more mountain river systems.