Probing river health status: a study based on index of biotic integrity (IBI) in Tapti River of Deccan plateau, India

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international Vol. 30; no. 29; pp. 73185 - 73201
• Main Authors: Nair, Sangeetha Mohanachandran, Muhammadali, Sajina Aliyamintakath, Koushlesh, Satish Kumar, Chanu, Thangjam Nirupada, Das, Sanjoy Kumar, Bhakta, Dibakar, Pillai, Vaisakh Gopinatha, Gogoi, Pranab, Samanta, Srikanta, Meetei, Wakambam Anand, Baitha, Raju, Kamble, Suhas Prakash, Kumar, Vikas, Das, Basanta Kumar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.06.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Alkalinity; Anthropogenic factors; Aquatic ecosystems; Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Carnivores; Composition; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental science; Fish; Functional groups; Household wastes; Impairment; Industrial effluents; Integrity; Mathematical analysis; Research Article; Rivers; Sewage; Sewage effluents; Urban areas; Waste Water Technology; Water flow; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Water quality; IBI; Biotic integrity; River Tapti; Fish assemblage; Impairment; India
• ISSN: 1614-7499; 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-27497-x

Anthropogenic activities impacted the ecological health of rivers by altering the physical habitat and water flow as well as by pollution. Monitoring of biotic groups for gauging the river health is a prerequisite for assessing the extent of degradation and formulating management guidelines for river restoration. An assessment using fish-based index of biotic integrity (IBI) was carried out in the Central Indian river, Tapti, for probing its health status. For the multimetric index, twelve metrics were adopted under five categories: taxonomic richness, habitat composition, tolerance indicators, species resilience, and trophic composition. Among the studied sites, Betul in the upper stretch was selected as the reference site for River Tapti, which almost meets the upper expectation of the metrics explored. Continuous scoring method was applied to evaluate the biotic integrity in the selected sites of the river. The IBI score based on the pooled fish abundance data in River Tapti ranged from 33 to 60. Assessment of the ecological health revealed that three-fourth of the river stretch was moderately impaired (25–50% of impairment) and the most deteriorated site was Kamrej with 45% of impairment which might be due to its location in the urban area with high influx of domestic sewage and industrial effluents. The IBI scores were plotted and compared with an independent estimate of water quality. The CCA with environmental and IBI variables revealed higher correlation with each other and the functional groups such as carnivores, herbivores, and fishes with high population doubling time (PDT) were found in close association with nitrate-N, total alkalinity, and specific conductivity. The study urges the need for the adoption of proper management and mitigation measures to restore the health and wealth of aquatic ecosystem.