Adaptation of the Indice Biotico Esteso (IBE) for water quality assessment in rivers of Serra do Mar, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil

Abstract

This paper presents the index Índice Biótico Estendido-Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (IBE-IOC) adapted from the Indice Biotico Esteso (IBE) for the Serra do Mar region, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. This index was adjusted to 1st to 4th order streams using data from previous studies from 1999 through 2002. The surveys were carried out at 36 sampling sites, most with records from three different times of the year, for a total of 98 sampling events. The adaptation of the index was carried out in three stages: (1) adequacy of the taxonomic list of the SU definition table; (2) vertical modification of the calculation table, considering the taxa richness data; (3) horizontal modification of the calculation table, considering the tolerance of taxa to stress-related factors. In this article, there is also a table with the relative tolerances of the taxa present in the study area. Preliminary tests indicate good sensitivity of the IBE-IOC for the detection of different types of environmental impact, associated with the organic pollution, deforestation and industrial activities.