The evaluation of biological indices to assess the condition of hillslope seep wetlands in the Tsitsa River Catchment, South Africa

PLoS One. 2021 May 18;16(5):e0251370. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251370. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

The increase in the degradation of wetlands globally has highlighted the need to assess their ecological condition. Hillslope seep wetlands are among the least studied wetland types, yet they the most vulnerable because of their small size and steep slopes. Human pressure and the vulnerable nature of these wetlands requires wetland assessment tools to assess their condition. This study sought to evaluate the performance of the Floristic Quality Assessment Index for all species (FQAIall), the FQAI for dominant species (FQAIdom), and the Floristic Assessment Quotient for Wetlands (FAQWet) in response to the Anthropogenic Activity Index (AAI) and WET-Health in eleven hillslope seep wetlands and used these indices to assess the degree and intensity of disturbance. Vegetation samples were collected in summer 2016 and winter 2017. All assessment indices, FQAIall, FQAIdom, FAQWet and WET-Health, showed that hillslope seep wetlands were impacted by human activities. FQAIall showed the strongest response to AAI in winter, while FAQWet showed the strongest response to WET-Health. To the best of our knowledge, researchers in South Africa have used only WET-Health to assess wetland condition, and this is the first study to assess the condition of hillslope seep wetlands using a combination of indices (FQAIall, FQAIdom, FAQWet, and WET-Health). Overall, the findings of this study suggest that FQAIall and FAQWet are potentially better tools for assessing the biological condition of hillslope seep wetlands in South Africa.

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biodiversity*
  • Conservation of Natural Resources / methods*
  • Ecosystem*
  • Environmental Monitoring / methods*
  • Humans
  • Magnoliopsida / physiology*
  • South Africa
  • Wetlands*

Grants and funding

This study was funded by the National Research Foundation-Innovation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship to NL (SFP180503325902) and the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) RESBEN Postdoctoral research to NL (UID: 116633; http://ir.nrf.ac.za/handle/10907/103). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.