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A Fish-Based Index of Biotic Integrity for the Assessment of Streams Located in a Sugarcane-Dominated Landscape in Southeastern Brazil

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Abstract

A multimetric, fish-based Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) was developed and tested to assess the ecological status of streams with different riparian conditions in the Piracicaba River Basin. Nine streams with three categories of riparian zone preservation were selected: native forest (NF) with preserved forest, secondary forest (SF) with forest in an advanced state of regeneration and surrounded by sugarcane plantations, and sugarcane (SC) without riparian vegetation and surrounded by SC crops. A continuous scoring system was employed, and candidate metrics were tested for range, responsiveness, and redundancy, resulting in the selection of eight metrics to compose the index. The final IBI score was positively correlated with an Environmental Index both in the dry (Spearman’s rho = 0.76; P = 0.01) and rainy seasons (Spearman’s rho = 0.66; P = 0.04), suggesting that this IBI is a suitable tool for the assessment of the biological conditions of these streams. The highest IBI values were observed in the rainy season at the NF and SF sites, with significant differences between the NF and SC sites (Kruskal–Wallis test: P = 0.03). The results indicated some variability in the biological integrity at SF and SC sites, suggesting a relationship with the intensity of the management of this crop. Patterns were consistent with other studies that have shown the effects of agriculture on the environmental quality of streams, which indicate the importance of the riparian zone to the maintenance of ecosystem integrity and supports the use of the IBI for biological monitoring in similar regions.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Instituto de Pesca (APTA/SAA) for providing the infrastructure, its staff and students for their help in field work (Sérgio Luiz da Silva, Paulo Henrique Gusmão, Ludmila Cristina Baldi, Katerine Pereira Carvalho and Juliana Macedo Santana), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo for financial support (Proc. 2010/52069-6), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico for the MSc scholarship (Proc. 154078/2010-7), Maria Letizia Petesse for suggestions and comments on the manuscript, Osvaldo T. Oyakawa for fish identification, Cíntia Kameyama for macrophyte identification, Mirna Ferracini for map drawing, André Vaz and Eduardo Paes for help with the statistical analyses and José Carlos Perdigão and Walter Lima for help in locating the sampling sites. This study was funded by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) (Grant Number 2010/52069-6. Fernanda Bastos dos Santos has received a MSc grant from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) (Grant Number 154078/2010-7) .

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Standards

All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.

Human and Animal Rights

All procedures performed in studies involving animals were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institution or practice at which the studies were conducted. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Fisheries Institute of São Paulo (CEEAIP) (Protocol 07/2010).

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  1. Postgraduate Course in Aquaculture and Fisheries, Fisheries Institute, Secretaria da Agricultura e Abastecimento do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Fernanda Bastos dos Santos

  2. Centro de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento em Recursos Hídricos, Fisheries Institute/APTA, Secretaria da Agricultura e Abastecimento do Estado de São Paulo, Av. Francisco Matarazzo, 455, São Paulo, SP, CEP: 05001-970, Brazil

    Katharina Eichbaum Esteves

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dos Santos, F.B., Esteves, K.E. A Fish-Based Index of Biotic Integrity for the Assessment of Streams Located in a Sugarcane-Dominated Landscape in Southeastern Brazil. Environmental Management 56, 532–548 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-015-0516-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-015-0516-y

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