A Longitudinal Assessment of Benthic Macroinvertebrate Diversity and Water Quality along the Bronx River

- The Bronx River is an urban waterway with a long history of anthropogenic disturbance. We conducted a longitudinal assessment of the Bronx River's water quality by measuring benthic macroinvertebrate diversity at 6 sites along the river. We integrated long-term water-quality data collected by...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inNortheastern naturalist Vol. 29; no. 4; pp. 415 - 440
Main Authors Mahmud, Maleha, Lahti, David C, Habig, Bobby
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Steuben Northeastern Naturalist 01.12.2022
Subjects
Anthropogenic factors
Aquatic insects
Biodiversity
Creeks & streams
Ephemeroptera
Historical account
Introduced species
Invasive species
Macroinvertebrates
Mollusks
Nonnative species
Polls & surveys
Rivers
Sewage
Stormwater
Surveys
Water quality
Water quality measurements
Waterways
Modesto California
New York
United States > US
Bronx River
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:- The Bronx River is an urban waterway with a long history of anthropogenic disturbance. We conducted a longitudinal assessment of the Bronx River's water quality by measuring benthic macroinvertebrate diversity at 6 sites along the river. We integrated long-term water-quality data collected by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. We found that the overall water quality of the river has remained moderately impacted over different timepoints throughout the past 22 years. The study site upstream of combined sewage overflows and municipal separate stormwater systems exhibited healthier biological profiles, whereas the most-downstream sites exhibited slight declines in water quality. The most recent survey of the Bronx River (2020) revealed that high invasive species dominance was associated with benthic macroinvertebrate communities that were less healthy. Notably, one invasive species not documented in historical surveys, Corbicula fluminea (Asian Clam), was sampled in 5 of 6 study sites during the 2020 surveys. Moreover, no species were sampled from the order Ephemeroptera (mayflies) in 2020 despite being present in previous surveys. These results can be used to guide the management of urban rivers.
ISSN:1092-6194
1938-5307