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Evaluation of two fish-based indices of biotic integrity for assessing coldwater stream health and habitat condition in Iowa’s driftless area, USA

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Abstract

Multiple fish-based indices of biotic integrity (FIBI) exist to estimate stream health using fish community structure. Yet, these metrics require different amounts of data and may result in different interpretations of stream health. We compared functionality of “low-metric” (5 metrics) and “metric-rich” (12 metrics) coldwater FIBIs for estimating stream health in 138 coldwater streams of northeastern Iowa, USA. Then, we investigated associations between FIBI scores and environmental factors at local and catchment scales using mixed effects linear regression. FIBI scores from both protocols were positively correlated (R2 = 0.77); the majority of streams scored fair (n = 31, mean = 45; fair) using the metric-rich index but scored very poor using the low-metric index (n = 35, mean score = 25; poor). FIBI scores were higher (mean = good) when Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis were present with both indices. When Brook Trout were absent, scores were lower and less variable with the low-metric index (mean = 19.63; poor) compared to the metric-rich index (mean = 40.38; fair). Local habitat was more related to both FIBI scores than catchment-scale habitat: maximum daily stream temperature and bare bank severity index were negatively correlated with both FIBI scores whereas canopy coverage correlated positively with metric-rich FIBI scores. Brook Trout presence was indicative of coldwater stream health for both indices. Our results suggest the metric-rich FIBI index has improved ability to differentiate lower quality sites due to increased sensitivity. Our results can be used to improve stream health estimates and restoration prioritizations.

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Data availability

The habitat and fish datasets generated and analyzed for this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Code availability

The code used to analyze the datasets generated for this study is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

Funding for this project was provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and IDNR. We thank IDNR staff and SF, NS, HS, and DR of the Winneshiek and Howard County Soil and Water Conservation Districts for landowner contact and fieldwork assistance. TS, EL, AK, GM, and RW assisted with field work. Finally, we thank landowners who allowed us access to their property to collect data.

Funding

Funding for this project was provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and IDNR.

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  1. Sam Grinstead

    Present address: West Virginia University Division of Forestry and Natural Resources, 339 Percival Hall, 1145 Evansdale Drive, Morgantown, WV, 26506, USA

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  1. Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Iowa State University, 339 Science Hall II, Ames, IA, 50011, USA

    Sam Grinstead, Brett Kelly & Michael J. Weber

  2. Iowa Department of Natural Resources, 2325 Siewers Spring Road, Decorah, IA, 52101, USA

    Michael Siepker

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Grinstead, S., Kelly, B., Siepker, M. et al. Evaluation of two fish-based indices of biotic integrity for assessing coldwater stream health and habitat condition in Iowa’s driftless area, USA. Aquat Ecol 56, 983–1000 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10452-022-09958-6

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