Development of a Microbe-Based Index of Biotic Integrity for the Assessment of the Ecological Status of Small and Micro Water Bodies

The ecological status of small and micro water bodies affects surrounding residential areas. It is difficult to collect and analyze commonly used biological indicators (e.g., Fish, benthic animals, and plankton). Microbe are sensitive to environmental changes, more convenient to sample, and easier to monitor in small and micro water bodies. Considering the effects of urbanization on ecological status, 17 sample sites were selected in the Yueyang River and a microbial-based index of biotic integrity (M-IBI) was developed. The microbial abundance and diversity were measured by high-throughput sequencing and then a range test, discriminant power test, and redundancy test were used to screen five core metrics, including DO-tolerant genera, COD-tolerant genera, % Micrococcales, % Pseudomonadales, and % Burkholderiaceae. The ecological status of samples was defined as excellent (29.41%), good (41.18%), or fair (29.41%). Our results revealed that the ecological health of villages was better than that of towns, influenced by urbanization.

Keywords: small and micro water bodies, ecological health assessments, microbe, biotic integrity, Urbanization

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Guo, Shushu and Wang, Maosheng and Yang, Yuankun and Song, Han and Yue, Tingting and Jiang, Hui and Tu, Weiguo and Liu, Zhaoqiang and Chen, Shu, Development of a Microbe-Based Index of Biotic Integrity for the Assessment of the Ecological Status of Small and Micro Water Bodies. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4526690 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4526690