The effect of channelization on the biological quality of lowland streams using macroinvertebrates as proxies

We studied whether and how channelization affects macroinvertebrate communities and biological quality in lowland streams of Estonia (Northern Europe). Two datasets of semi-quantitative samples (collected during 2001–2010) were used: (1) pairwise data (natural sites located upstream of the channeliz...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hydrobiologia 2017-06, Vol.794 (1), p.167-177
Main Authors: Käiro, K., Haldna, M., Timm, H., Virro, T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological effects
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Channeling
Data
Datasets
Duration
Ecology
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
Life Sciences
Macroinvertebrates
Physicochemical processes
Physicochemical properties
Pollution
Pollution index
Primary Research Paper
Rivers
Stream order
Stream pollution
Streams
Water pollution
Zoobenthos
Zoology
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Summary:We studied whether and how channelization affects macroinvertebrate communities and biological quality in lowland streams of Estonia (Northern Europe). Two datasets of semi-quantitative samples (collected during 2001–2010) were used: (1) pairwise data (natural sites located upstream of the channelized sites; 22 streams, 24 pairs), and (2) background data (73 natural sites from 62 streams, 73 channelized sites from 62 streams). The mean stream order in both datasets was 3. Channelization had no significant effects on physicochemical parameters or on macroinvertebrates in the pairwise dataset where channelization was done decades earlier. However, it had several negative effects on macroinvertebrates in the background dataset where several areas had probably been maintained more recently. Richness of sensitive data, Shannon diversity, mean sensitivity, organic pollution index, and multimetric quality were significantly lower for the modified sites than for the natural sites. Only total taxon richness and score of hydromorphology were not significantly affected by channelization. Thus, several macroinvertebrate metrics that indicate water pollution, proved to be sensitive to channelization as well. The recovery conditions (such as stream type, channelization season, recovering duration, etc.) have been poorly studied and would deserve further attention.
ISSN:0018-8158
1573-5117
DOI:10.1007/s10750-017-3091-9