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Influence of Stream Location in a Drainage Network on the Index of Biotic Integrity
Author(s) -
Osborne Lewis L.,
Kohler Steven L.,
Bayley Peter B.,
Day David M.,
Bertrand William A.,
Wiley Michael J.,
Sauer Randy
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1992)121<0635:ioslia>2.3.co;2
Subject(s) - tributary , index of biological integrity , streams , species richness , environmental science , drainage basin , hydrology (agriculture) , channel (broadcasting) , sucker , current (fluid) , biotic index , ecology , geography , geology , biology , oceanography , cartography , computer network , geotechnical engineering , engineering , anatomy , computer science , electrical engineering
The index of biotic integrity (IBI) has become a widely used tool for assessing the condition of stream fish communities and the overall biological status of streams. Because the location of a stream in a drainage network can influence the species richness offish communities and because species richness is an important component of the IBI, we examined the influence of stream spatial location on the IBI. We found that IBI scores for headwater streams in three Illinois drainage basins were significantly lower than those calculated for tributary streams of similar size connecting directly to larger streams. This difference in IBI was related to the increased species richness and to a greater number of sucker and darter species in tributaries that drain into larger, main‐channel streams. Because of the influence of tributary location on the IBI, expected values for headwater tributary streams should be developed independently from those developed for main‐channel tributary streams. Failure to do so can result in a substantial underestimation of the IBI of headwater tributary streams or an overestimation of main‐channel tributaries.