Development of the Diatom Ecological Quality Index (DEQI) for peri-urban mountain streams in the Basin of Mexico
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Development of the Diatom Ecological Quality Index (DEQI) for peri-urban mountain streams in the Basin of Mexico Victor Hugo Salinas-Camarillo 1,2 & Javier Carmona-Jiménez 2 & Eduardo A. Lobo 3 Received: 5 August 2020 / Accepted: 9 November 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract In the Basin of Mexico, one of the most important economic regions in the country with over 22 million inhabitants, peri-urban streams have been transformed into sewers, drains, and pipes to avoid flooding or unsanitary conditions; the change affects not only the ecosystem’s goods and services but also the aquatic communities that support the natural ecological processes. We aimed to develop a diatom-based diagnosis of the ecological quality of these aquatic ecosystems through the study of epilithic diatom response to regional environmental gradients. Samples of epilithic diatoms and water were collected in 45 sites representing 12 perennial streams, and multivariate analyses were performed on environmental and biological data. The ecological quality gradient to which diatoms responded was related to oxygen saturation, soluble reactive phosphorous, dissolved inorganic nitrogen, and hydromorphological quality. Three species groups were recognized according to their ecological preferences along CCA1 axis, indicators of high and low ecological quality, and tolerant species. By assigning an indicator value to each species group, we calculated the DEQI using the formula adapted from Pantle and Buck, indicating five different ecological quality classes. This index is proposed for complementing the ecological quality evaluation as a biological metric that responds to multiple regional stressors of the structure and function of these peri-urban streams in the Basin of Mexico. Keywords Peri-urban streams . Biomonitoring . Ecological quality . Epilithic diatoms . Bacillariophyta . Basin of Mexico
Introduction Ecological quality (EQ) in aquatic ecosystems is defined by its structure and function, and it is evaluated using physical, chemical, hydromorphological, and biological indicators (EC 2000). In this sense, different biological groups have been used for assessing and monitoring freshwater ecosystems. Among them, epilithic diatoms are recognized worldwide as Responsible Editor: Thomas Hein * Javier Carmona-Jiménez [email protected] 1
Posgrado en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Av. Ciudad Universitaria 3000, Coyoacán C.P. 04510, Ciudad de México, México
2
Laboratorio de Ecosistemas de Ribera, Departamento de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias (UNAM), Circuito exterior s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, Ciudad de México, México
3
Programa de Pós-Graduação (Mestrado e Doutorado) em Tecnologia Ambiental, Universidade de Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz do Sul, RS, Brazil
valuable indicators of environmental conditions as they respond directly and sensitively to specific physical, chemical, and biological changes (Wetzel 1983; EC 200
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