Assessing riparian quality using two complementary sets of bioindicators

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dc.contributor.authorSmith J.
dc.contributor.authorSamways M.J.
dc.contributor.authorTaylor S.
dc.date.accessioned2011-05-15T15:56:39Z
dc.date.available2011-05-15T15:56:39Z
dc.date.issued2007
dc.description.abstractBiological indicators are being increasingly used to rapidly monitor changing river quality. Among these bioindicators are macroinvertebrates. A short-coming of macroinvertebrate rapid assessments is that they use higher taxa, and therefore lack taxonomic resolution and species-specific responses. One subset of invertebrate taxa is the Odonata, which as adults, are sensitive indicators of both riparian and river conditions. Yet adult Odonata are not necessarily an umbrella taxon for all other taxa. Therefore, we investigated whether the two metrics of aquatic macroinvertebrate higher taxa and adult odonate species might complement each other, and whether together they provide better clarity on river health and integrity than one subset alone. Results indicated that both metrics provide a similar portrait of large-scale, overall river conditions. At the smaller spatial scale of parts of rivers, Odonata were highly sensitive to riparian vegetation, and much more so than macroinvertebrate higher taxa. Odonate species were more sensitive to vegetation structure than they were to vegetation composition. Landscape context is also important, with the odonate assemblages at point localities being affected by the neighbouring dominant habitat type. Overall, benthic macroinvertebrates and adult Odonata species provide a highly complementary pair of metrics which together provide large spatial scale (river system) and small spatial scale (point localities) information on the impact of stressors such as riparian invasive alien trees. As adult Odonata are easy to sample and are sensitive to disturbance at both small and large spatial scales, they are valuable indicators for rapid assessment of river condition and riparian quality. © 2006 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
dc.description.versionArticle
dc.identifier.citationBiodiversity and Conservation
dc.identifier.citation16
dc.identifier.citation9
dc.identifier.issn9603115
dc.identifier.other10.1007/s10531-006-9081-2
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/9967
dc.subjectbioindicator
dc.subjectcomplementarity
dc.subjectdisturbance
dc.subjectenvironmental assessment
dc.subjecthabitat quality
dc.subjectIndex of Biotic Integrity
dc.subjectintroduced species
dc.subjectinvasive species
dc.subjectmacroinvertebrate
dc.subjectriparian vegetation
dc.subjecttaxonomy
dc.subjectvegetation structure
dc.subjectInvertebrata
dc.subjectOdonata
dc.titleAssessing riparian quality using two complementary sets of bioindicators
dc.typeArticle
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