Family- and species-level biotic indices for macroinvertebrates of wetlands on the Swan Coastal Plain, Western Australia

Abstract

SWAMPS (Swan Wetlands Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Pollution Sensitivity) was developed as a biotic index for wetlands near Perth, Western Australia. Numerical grades between 1 and 100 were assigned to wetland macroinvertebrate taxa, generally at the family and species levels, to reflect the sensitivities of these taxa to anthropogenic disturbance, primarily nutrient enrichment. Index scores for individual wetlands were calculated as abundance-weighted or unweighted means of the grades of all taxa present in standard samples. Scores calculated at both the family and species levels showed a strong correlation with independent measures of cultural eutrophication and other anthropogenic disturbances, but such correlations were generally higher for the species-level index. The species index also discriminated more between individual wetlands. SWAMPS should be useful in routine and rapid assessment and monitoring of wetland condition in the Perth region and could be easily adapted to other regions and continents.