Utilizing Insects as Bioindicators: An Approximation for Conservation in Urban Lentic Ecosystems in Central Chile

This study considered using insect families as bioindicators to establish the health status of an ecosystem of lentic bodies. The water quality in urban lentic bodies in the Metropolitan Region, Chile, was evaluated from aquatic insect family assemblages and physicochemical variables for conserving aquatic life. Evaluations were carried out in parallel at four sampling stations of three water bodies (Batuco Wetland, Carén Lagoon, and Chada Reservoir) in a 2-3-year series, spring (2015, 2017, and 2018) and fall (2016 and 2018), with three replicates. Families were randomly sampled and aquatic insects were identified; abundance and richness differences were compared with non-parametric tests. Physicochemical variables were measured using portable multiparametric and laboratory chemical analyses to determine the water quality. A Canonical Correspondence Analysis was applied for insect families and the physical-chemical variable. In order to categorize the health of these water bodies based on aquatic insect composition and abundance, the Family Biotic Index (FBI), British Biological Monitoring Work Party (BMWP), and Stream Invertebrate Grade Number-Average Level (SIGNAL), adapted for Chile by Figueroa et al. (2007), were calculated. The eudominant insect families were Corixidae and Chironomidae in Batuco, Chironomidae and Corixidae in Carén, and Corixidae in Chada. Baetidae was dominant in Carén and Chada. The water bodies were classified in descending order of water quality by Chilean physicochemical standards: Chada > Carén > Batuco. The TSS (total suspended solids), phosphorus, and electrical conductivity were strongly positively correlated and negatively associated with dissolved oxygen. The TSS level was the most significant influential factor. The BMWP value and the SIGNAL differed from the FBI, but the first was more restrictive, contributing to the conservation of these ecosystems. Based on the nitrogen and phosphorus levels in the water bodies, all of them were eutrophic. Given the ecosystem diversity and complexity, studies should delve deeper into wetlands to establish methods that contribute to determining water quality, using insect families as bioindicators and physicochemical variables.