Dataset Information

An Estimated Structural Equation Model to Assess the Effects of Land Use on Water Quality and Benthic Macroinvertebrates in Streams of the Nam-Han River System, South Korea.

ABSTRACT: The extent of anthropogenic land use in watersheds determines the amount of pollutants discharged to streams. This indirectly and directly affects stream water quality and biological health. Most studies have therefore focused on ways to reduce non-point pollution sources to streams from the surrounding land use in watersheds. However, the mechanistic pathways between land use and the deterioration of stream water quality and biological assemblages remain unclear. This study estimated a structural equation model (SEM) representing the impact of agricultural and urban land use on water quality and the benthic macroinvertebrate index (BMI) using IBM AMOS in the Nam-Han river systems, South Korea. The estimated SEM showed that the percent of urban and agricultural land in the watersheds significantly affected both the water quality and the BMI of the streams. Specifically, a higher percent of urban land use had directly increased the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and total phosphorus (TP), and deteriorated the BMI of streams. Similarly, higher proportions of agricultural land use had also directly increased the BOD, total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) concentrations, and lowered the BMI of streams. In addition, it was observed that the percent of urban and agricultural land use had indirectly deteriorated the BMI through increased BOD. However, we were not able to observe any significant indirect effect of the percent of urban and agricultural land use through increased nutrients including TN and TP. These results indicate that increased urban and agricultural land use in the watersheds had directly and indirectly affected the physicochemical characteristics and benthic macroinvertebrate communities in streams. Our findings emphasize the need to develop more elaborate environmental management and restoration strategies to improve the water quality and biological status of streams.

SUBMITTER: Lee JW

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7143456 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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An Estimated Structural Equation Model to Assess the Effects of Land Use on Water Quality and Benthic Macroinvertebrates in Streams of the Nam-Han River System, South Korea.

Lee Jong-Won JW Lee Sang-Woo SW An Kyung-Jin KJ Hwang Soon-Jin SJ Kim Nan-Young NY

International journal of environmental research and public health 20200323 6

The extent of anthropogenic land use in watersheds determines the amount of pollutants discharged to streams. This indirectly and directly affects stream water quality and biological health. Most studies have therefore focused on ways to reduce non-point pollution sources to streams from the surrounding land use in watersheds. However, the mechanistic pathways between land use and the deterioration of stream water quality and biological assemblages remain unclear. This study estimated a structur ...[more]

PMID: 32209987

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Project description:Dam removal is an increasingly important method of stream restoration, but most removal efforts are under-studied in their effects. In order to better understand the effects of such removals on the stream ecosystem, we examined changes in stream macroinvertebrate communities from 2011-2016. Comparisons were focused above, below, and before and after the October 2012 removal of the Brown Bridge Dam on the Boardman River in Michigan (USA), as well as to new channel sites created in its former reservoir (2013-2015). Using linear mixed-effect models on the percent abundance of ecologically sensitive taxa (% Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera (EPT)), total density of all macroinvertebrates, overall taxa richness, and Functional Feeding Groups, along with multivariate analyses on the community matrix, we examined differences in community composition among sites and years. EPT declined downstream of the dam immediately after dam removal, but recovered in the second year, becoming dominant within 2-4 years. Downstream sites before removal had different community composition than upstream sites and downstream sites after removal (p<0.001), while upstream and downstream sites after removal converged towards similarity. New channel (restored) %EPT, density, and taxa richness were not different from upstream sites in any year following removal, but new channel sites were the most distinct in community composition, possessing multiple indicator taxa characteristic of unique new conditions. The invasive New Zealand mud snail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum) was absent from all sites prior to dam removal, but appeared at low densities in upstream sites in 2013, had spread to all sites by 2015, and showed large increases at all sites by 2016. Managers employing dam removal for stream restoration should include post-removal monitoring for multiple years following removal and conduct risk analysis regarding potential effects on colonization of invasive invertebrate species.

Project description:BackgroundThe Madeira Island (Portugal; 32°24'-33°07'N, 16°16-17°16'W; 796 km2) is an oceanic island located in the North Atlantic, about 980 km south of Portugal and about 700 km west of the African coast. The presence of freshwater invertebrates in oceanic islands has always raised questions concerning dispersal, colonisation and evolution. Therefore, the freshwater fauna of Madeira Island has attracted the interest of many researchers in the past, the first publications going back to the nineteenth century. Initial studies were mainly taxonomic, resulting in a checklist of the Madeira freshwater macroinvertebrates with 240 taxa. As typical from oceanic islands, freshwater invertebrates are characterised by low diversity, with some taxonomic groups absent. Although freshwater Madeiran macroinvertebrates are a well-studied group, geographical information of diversity distribution is still scarce. Therefore, more studies are needed, especially georeferenced data of diversity and distribution of macroinvertebrate assemblages, to provide valuable information for improving knowledge and the development of typologically appropriate monitoring and conservation programmes and restoration strategies for local stakeholders.New informationThe results of the present study revealed 713 occurrences in 40 sampling points in Madeira Island streams. The occurrence data showed 70 different aquatic taxa belonging to 21 orders and 53 families. Amongst our occurrence data, 15 endemic taxa (22.1%) from Madeira Archipelago were found. In addition, different families of Collembola and different taxa of Copepoda (Onychiuridae, Poduridae, Isotomidae, Entomobryidae, Sminthuridae) comprised new records for the Madeira streams. Therefore, further taxonomic and ecological studies on freshwater invertebrates from Madeira Island should be done with a particular focus on these lesser-known groups. Thus, our data increase the geographical data distribution of freshwater macroinvertebrates and their diversity in Madeira Island. This database is an update of geographical information of diversity distribution of Madeira freshwater macroinvertebrates known groups. This information is essential for a better understanding of community composition, diversity, occurrence or spatial distribution, which will help explore different research questions on different research areas, such as community ecology and biogeography.

Dataset Information

An Estimated Structural Equation Model to Assess the Effects of Land Use on Water Quality and Benthic Macroinvertebrates in Streams of the Nam-Han River System, South Korea.

Publications

An Estimated Structural Equation Model to Assess the Effects of Land Use on Water Quality and Benthic Macroinvertebrates in Streams of the Nam-Han River System, South Korea.

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