Development of a multicommunity index of biotic integrity for ecological health assessments of water—A case study of a mountain watershed in eastern China
The evaluation of water ecological health provides a scientific foundation for water resource management, ecological protection, and restoration in river basins. The index of biological integrity (IBI) is a popular method, but a single-community IBIs may not fully reflect aquatic ecosystem health. I...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2025-07-01
|
| Series: | Ecological Indicators |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X25006673 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849689498580942848 |
|---|---|
| author | Zifan Zhao Lifang Zhu Wei Zheng Jianjun Jiang Yuhui Wang Liheng Xu |
| author_facet | Zifan Zhao Lifang Zhu Wei Zheng Jianjun Jiang Yuhui Wang Liheng Xu |
| author_sort | Zifan Zhao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The evaluation of water ecological health provides a scientific foundation for water resource management, ecological protection, and restoration in river basins. The index of biological integrity (IBI) is a popular method, but a single-community IBIs may not fully reflect aquatic ecosystem health. In this study, a multicommunity index of biological integrity (Mc-IBI) was proposed as an indicator for aquatic ecosystem health assessment at the regional watershed scale. Mc-IBI was established based on benthos, phytoplankton, zooplankton, and epiphytic algae collected from 44 sampling sites in a mountainous small watershed in central Hangzhou (Zhejiang Province, China). A candidate indicator pool comprising 137 potential indicators was constructed on the basis of the distribution characteristics of the biological communities. Through distribution range analysis, discriminability testing, and redundancy testing, 17 core indicators, including benthic taxa, copepod taxa, and the Simpson index, were selected. The weight of each biological community at each sampling point was determined using the low-dimensional space obtained after dimensionality reduction with the t-SNE method, and the final Mc-IBI values were derived by assigning scores based on these weights. The ecological health of the small mountainous watershed, evaluated via the Mc-IBI, was classified as “good” (63.58 ± 8.52). Comparing with the individual IBIs, the Mc-IBI integrates multiple biological communities to enable a more comprehensive evaluation of aquatic ecosystem health at the regional watershed scale. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-827662797d0344969c7d903518adda19 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1470-160X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecological Indicators |
| spelling | doaj-art-827662797d0344969c7d903518adda192025-08-20T03:21:38ZengElsevierEcological Indicators1470-160X2025-07-0117611373710.1016/j.ecolind.2025.113737Development of a multicommunity index of biotic integrity for ecological health assessments of water—A case study of a mountain watershed in eastern ChinaZifan Zhao0Lifang Zhu1Wei Zheng2Jianjun Jiang3Yuhui Wang4Liheng Xu5Department of Environmental Engineering, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou 310018, China; School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Hangzhou 310018, ChinaSchool of Environmental Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Hangzhou 310018, China; Nanxun Innovation Institute, Zhejiang University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Hangzhou 310018, China; Corresponding author at: School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Hangzhou 310018, China; Nanxun Innovation Institute, Zhejiang University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Hangzhou 310018, China.Shangcheng District Comprehensive Administration Law Enforcement Bureau, Hangzhou 310018, ChinaHangzhou Ecological Environment Bureau Tonglu Branch Bureau, Hangzhou 310018, ChinaDepartment of Environmental Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 210000, ChinaDepartment of Environmental Engineering, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou 310018, ChinaThe evaluation of water ecological health provides a scientific foundation for water resource management, ecological protection, and restoration in river basins. The index of biological integrity (IBI) is a popular method, but a single-community IBIs may not fully reflect aquatic ecosystem health. In this study, a multicommunity index of biological integrity (Mc-IBI) was proposed as an indicator for aquatic ecosystem health assessment at the regional watershed scale. Mc-IBI was established based on benthos, phytoplankton, zooplankton, and epiphytic algae collected from 44 sampling sites in a mountainous small watershed in central Hangzhou (Zhejiang Province, China). A candidate indicator pool comprising 137 potential indicators was constructed on the basis of the distribution characteristics of the biological communities. Through distribution range analysis, discriminability testing, and redundancy testing, 17 core indicators, including benthic taxa, copepod taxa, and the Simpson index, were selected. The weight of each biological community at each sampling point was determined using the low-dimensional space obtained after dimensionality reduction with the t-SNE method, and the final Mc-IBI values were derived by assigning scores based on these weights. The ecological health of the small mountainous watershed, evaluated via the Mc-IBI, was classified as “good” (63.58 ± 8.52). Comparing with the individual IBIs, the Mc-IBI integrates multiple biological communities to enable a more comprehensive evaluation of aquatic ecosystem health at the regional watershed scale.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X25006673MulticommunityBiological integrity indexMountain riversEcological health of water |
| spellingShingle | Zifan Zhao Lifang Zhu Wei Zheng Jianjun Jiang Yuhui Wang Liheng Xu Development of a multicommunity index of biotic integrity for ecological health assessments of water—A case study of a mountain watershed in eastern China Ecological Indicators Multicommunity Biological integrity index Mountain rivers Ecological health of water |
| title | Development of a multicommunity index of biotic integrity for ecological health assessments of water—A case study of a mountain watershed in eastern China |
| title_full | Development of a multicommunity index of biotic integrity for ecological health assessments of water—A case study of a mountain watershed in eastern China |
| title_fullStr | Development of a multicommunity index of biotic integrity for ecological health assessments of water—A case study of a mountain watershed in eastern China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Development of a multicommunity index of biotic integrity for ecological health assessments of water—A case study of a mountain watershed in eastern China |
| title_short | Development of a multicommunity index of biotic integrity for ecological health assessments of water—A case study of a mountain watershed in eastern China |
| title_sort | development of a multicommunity index of biotic integrity for ecological health assessments of water a case study of a mountain watershed in eastern china |
| topic | Multicommunity Biological integrity index Mountain rivers Ecological health of water |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X25006673 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT zifanzhao developmentofamulticommunityindexofbioticintegrityforecologicalhealthassessmentsofwateracasestudyofamountainwatershedineasternchina AT lifangzhu developmentofamulticommunityindexofbioticintegrityforecologicalhealthassessmentsofwateracasestudyofamountainwatershedineasternchina AT weizheng developmentofamulticommunityindexofbioticintegrityforecologicalhealthassessmentsofwateracasestudyofamountainwatershedineasternchina AT jianjunjiang developmentofamulticommunityindexofbioticintegrityforecologicalhealthassessmentsofwateracasestudyofamountainwatershedineasternchina AT yuhuiwang developmentofamulticommunityindexofbioticintegrityforecologicalhealthassessmentsofwateracasestudyofamountainwatershedineasternchina AT lihengxu developmentofamulticommunityindexofbioticintegrityforecologicalhealthassessmentsofwateracasestudyofamountainwatershedineasternchina |