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Influence of runoff regime type on a macroinvertebrate‐based flow index in rivers of British Columbia (Canada)
Author(s) -
Armanini D. G.,
Monk W. A.,
Tenenbaum D. E.,
Peters D. L.,
Baird D. J.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
ecohydrology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.982
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1936-0592
pISSN - 1936-0584
DOI - 10.1002/eco.234
Subject(s) - biomonitoring , environmental science , surface runoff , hydrology (agriculture) , ecoregion , drainage basin , water quality , biota , index (typography) , ecology , geography , computer science , biology , cartography , geology , geotechnical engineering , world wide web
Anthropogenic pressure on flow regimes has been recognized as a significant threat to the health of rivers in Canada and elsewhere. Yet while we know that the historical hydrological conditions prevailing at river sites can be assigned to runoff regime types, the implications of this hydrological structure on biological community composition have been poorly studied. Here we support the improvement of guidelines for flow management by exploring the relationship between biota and runoff regime types for selected rivers in British Columbia. One thousand six hundred biological samples were extracted from Environment Canada's Canadian Aquatic Biomonitoring Network (CABIN) database and a matching procedure was undertaken to associate biological samples to the long‐term hydrometric monitoring stations stored in the HYDAT National Water Data Archive. A practical approach for spatial matching of hydrometric and biomonitoring sites was presented, which permitted matching of a sufficient number of samples to assess the structure of biological communities across the four regime types identified. By examining multivariate and univariate biological descriptors, including the recently developed Canadian Ecological Flow Index, differences in macroinvertebrate community composition between the runoff regimes were observed. In conclusion, we have developed a practical approach to match hydrological and biomonitoring data and we have forwarded guidelines on how to improve integration between hydrometric and biomonitoring networks. Moreover, we have provided the first ecological validation of runoff regime types in Canada, confirming the need to account for antecedent hydrological conditions in the assessment of ecological quality using biomonitoring data. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and Crown in the right of Canada