Benthic macroinvertebrate based indices for assessing the ecological status of freshwaters on oceanic islands

Following the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC), macroinvertebrates are required biological elements for monitoring European aquatic ecosystems. Several efforts have been made towards establishing a biomonitoring programme for the Azores freshwater systems using benthic macroinvertebrates. However, little was previously known concerning Azorean freshwater macroinvertebrate fauna. Data from a major ongoing survey of macroinvertebrate freshwater fauna for two islands are presented and the use ofmacroinvertebrates as water quality indicators for the Azorean streams is evaluated. The upper, middle and lower reaches of streams longer than 10 km from S o Miguel (10) and Santa Maria (1) were surveyed (a total of 33 samples). A total of 21 taxa were collected;Diptera, in particular chironomidae, were dominant; chironomids were collected from all sampling sites. The Azorean lotic fauna is characterized by low levels of abundance and the absence of macroinvertebrate groups commonly associated with continental systems.Traditional biotic indices, used to classify ecological quality, yielded poor to bad classifications despite little or no environmental impacts at the sampling sites. The paucityof macroinvertebrate fauna is probably due to the result of geological and physicochemical processes, the oceanic character of the islands, their volcanic origin, small size and geological youth and climate related factors such as seasonal peaks in rainfall. Considering these constraints, we demonstrate that watershed age plays a determinant role in shaping Azorean macroinvertebrate freshwater communities which can confound the water quality classification via the use of traditional biotic indices.