Sains Malaysiana 51(12)(2022): 3897-3907

http://doi.org/10.17576/jsm-2022-5112-03

Evaluating the Tropical Reservoir Health by using the Index of Biotic Integrity as a Management Tool for Resource Conservation Planning

(Menilai Kesihatan Takungan Tropika menggunakan Indeks Integriti Biotik sebagai Alat Pengurusan untuk Perancangan Pemuliharaan Sumber)

XEAI LI CHAI¹, H. ROHASLINEY^1,* & I.S. KAMARUDDIN²

¹Department of Environment, Faculty of Forestry and Environment, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

²Department of Aquaculture, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

Received: 17 March 2022/Accepted: 15 August 2022

Abstract

Biotic Integrity index (IBI) is widely utilized for biomonitoring in aquatic ecosystems, especially in assessing aquatic ecosystem health worldwide.  Environmental changes significantly impact the aquatic ecosystem’s health of Subang Reservoir, which consequently affects the aquatic biodiversity.  This study was conducted to determine its ecosystem’s health by assessing the IBI of freshwater fish in Subang Reservoir.  In this study, thirty-four metrics were firstly selected as candidate metrics, and later, these thirty-four metrics underwent several statistical tests such as range, responsiveness, redundancy, and metrics scoring to screen and select the most appropriate metrics. A final eight metrics were selected after the statistical analysis, and a total score of 24 indicated that the Subang Reservoir’s ecosystem shows some stress due to an imbalanced fish guild. This showed that the ecosystem’s health of Subang Reservoir is in fair condition. This is because of the limitation of fish entering Subang Reservoir. The implementation of biomonitoring can be improved by modifying and selecting the most appropriate techniques, and the usage of biomonitoring can be increased in Malaysia’s freshwater ecosystems.  The result reported in this study can be used as a scientific base data for implementing biomonitoring.

Keywords: Fish assemblages; freshwater ecosystem; Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI); tropical reservoir

AbstraK

Indeks Integriti Biotik (IBI) digunakan secara meluas untuk pemantauan biologi dalam ekosistem akuatik terutamanya dalam menilai kesihatan ekosistem akuatik di seluruh dunia. Perubahan alam sekitar mempunyai kesan yang ketara terhadap kesihatan ekosistem akuatik Takungan Subang dan memberi kesan kepada kepelbagaian biologi akuatik. Kajian ini dijalankan untuk menentukan kesihatan ekosistemnya dengan menilai IBI ikan air tawar di Empangan Subang. Dalam kajian ini, tiga puluh empat metrik telah dipilih sebagai calon metrik. Tiga puluh empat metrik ini menjalani beberapa ujian statistik seperti ujian julat, ujian responsif, ujian redundansi dan pemarkahan metrik telah dijalankan untuk memilih metrik yang paling sesuai. Lapan metrik terakhir telah dipilih selepas analisis statistik dan jumlah markah metrik IBI ialah 24 yang menunjukkan bahawa ekosistem Empangan Subang mengalami beberapa tanda tekanan akibat kelompok ikan yang tidak seimbang. Empangan Subang didapati dalam keadaan sederhana sihat. Hal ini demikian kerana kemasukan ikan ke dalam Empangan Subang adalah terhad.  Pelaksanaan pemantauan biologi boleh dipertingkatkan dan penggunaan pemantauan biologi boleh ditingkatkan dalam ekosistem air tawar Malaysia. Hasil kajian ini dapat digunakan sebagai data asas saintifik untuk pelaksanaan pemantauan biologi.

Kata kunci: Ekosistem akuatik; Indeks Integriti Biotik (IBI); perkumpulan ikan; takungan tropika

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^*Corresponding author; email: rohasliney@upm.edu.my