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Interpretation of the invertebrate-based BMWP-PL index in a gravel-bed river: insight from the Polish Carpathians

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Abstract

Like its British prototype (Biological Monitoring Working Party score system), the Polish benthic invertebrate-based BMWP-PL index is commonly regarded as an indicator of river water quality. This interpretation of the index has been verified in a study of the gravel-bed Biała River. Benthic macroinvertebrates were sampled at 10 sites and compared in one channelized and one unmanaged cross-section per site. The resulting taxa richness and BMWP-PL index scores were compared with water quality and physical habitat characteristics in the cross-sections. Channelized and unmanaged cross-sections clearly differed in their physical habitat conditions, and water quality characteristics mostly varied in the downstream direction. Particular cross-sections hosted between 3 and 26 invertebrate taxa, with the respective BMWP-PL scores indicating the water in the surveyed cross-sections varied between high and poor quality. However, the BMWP-PL scores were unrelated to physicochemical characteristics of the river water, which consistently pointed to high water quality. Instead, the scores were significantly related to several physical habitat variables, with the number of low-flow channels in a cross-section explaining the largest proportion of the variance in the index values. The relationship of the scores with the complexity of flow pattern in the river and a lack of their dependence on physicochemical water characteristics show that the BMWP-PL index should not be regarded as an indicator of water quality but rather as an indicator of the ecological status of rivers, dependent both on their hydromorphological and water-quality characteristics.

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Acknowledgments

This study was performed within the scope of Research Project N N305 097239 financed by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education. The authors would like to thank two anonymous reviewers and the special issue editor for valuable comments that helped improve the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Nature Conservation, Polish Academy of Sciences, al. Mickiewicza 33, 31-120, Kraków, Poland

    Bartłomiej Wyżga, Hanna Hajdukiewicz & Paweł Mikuś

  2. Department of Environmental Engineering, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, ul. Nowoursynowska 159, 02-787, Warszawa, Poland

    Paweł Oglęcki

  3. Institute of Geography, Pedagogical University, ul. Podchorążych 2, 30-084, Kraków, Poland

    Joanna Zawiejska

  4. Department of Hydraulic Engineering and Geotechnique, University of Agriculture, al. Mickiewicza 24/28, 30-059, Kraków, Poland

    Artur Radecki-Pawlik

  5. Institute of Zoology, Jagiellonian University, ul. Gronostajowa 9, 30-387, Kraków, Poland

    Tomasz Skalski

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  1. Bartłomiej Wyżga
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Correspondence to Bartłomiej Wyżga.

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Guest editors: A. Elosegi, M. Mutz & H. Piégay / Form and function: channel form, hydraulic integrity, and river ecosystem functioning

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Wyżga, B., Oglęcki, P., Hajdukiewicz, H. et al. Interpretation of the invertebrate-based BMWP-PL index in a gravel-bed river: insight from the Polish Carpathians. Hydrobiologia 712, 71–88 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-012-1280-0

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