title: Testing the efficiency of temperate benthic biotic indices in assessing the ecological status of a tropical ecosystem.
abstract: The objectives of the present study were to evaluate the ecological status of tropical coastal waters using the temperate benthic indices and examine the effect of seasonal variability on the performance of benthic indices. Macrobenthic samples were collected from northwest to southeast coast of India during 2003-2012 and we tested different univariate indices, ecological strategies, indicator species and multimetric indices. AMBI and multimetric indices performed satisfactorily in evaluating the ecological status. Seasonal variability on the biotic indices was observed during the southwest monsoon and fall intermonsoon period due to recruitment. Therefore, we recommended the non-monsoon period (January-May) as a suitable time of the year to use the indices for effective assessment of the Indian coastal waters. Results show that, the temperate benthic indices are efficient in assessing the tropical environmental status. However, complementary use of different indices is suggested for accurate assessment of the environmental status.
authors.affiliation: Biological Oceanography Division, CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, India. Electronic address: sanitha_sivadas@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Sanitha K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Sivadas
authors.affiliation: Biological Oceanography Division, CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, India.
authors.forename: Rahul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nagesh
authors.affiliation: Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Kochi, India.
authors.forename: G V M
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Biological Oceanography Division, CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, India.
authors.forename: Udaykumar
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Gaonkar
authors.affiliation: Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, Hirano 2-509-3, Otsu 520-2113, Shiga, Japan.
authors.forename: Indranil
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mukherjee
authors.affiliation: Geological Oceanography Division, CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, India.
authors.forename: Darwin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ramteke
authors.affiliation: Biological Oceanography Division, CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, India.
authors.forename: Baban S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Ingole
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004463:Ecology; D017753:Ecosystem; D004777:Environment; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D007448:Invertebrates
keywords: Benthic indices; Coastal; Estuary; Harbour; India; Monsoon; Upwelling