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Article title: Development and testing of an index of biological integrity based on submersed
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and floating vegetation and its application to assess reclamation wetlands in Alberta’s oil sands
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area, Canada
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Journal name: Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
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Author names: Rebecca C. Rooney1, Suzanne E. Bayley
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Affiliation: B217 Biological Sciences Bldg, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada, T6G
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2E9
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Corresponding Author’s Contact Info: E-mail: rrooney@ualberta.ca, Phone: (780) 492-4615,
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Fax: (780) 492-9234.
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Corresponding Author
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Appendix 1 Definitions of candidate metrics calculated from the submersed and floating
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vegetation.
Metric
Definition
FLT_S
Richness of floating species
SAV_S
Richness of submersed aquatic species
TOT_S
Richness of floating and submersed aquatic species
H'
Shannon entropy = -∑ (p ln p) for each species at the pond level
H'_ED
The "true diversity" according to the Shannon entropy index (weighs
species according to their frequencies)
S_Quad
The number of species observed in all quadrats summed together
Hmax
ln(S) within each pond, where S is the sum of species used to calculate H'
EH
H' / Hmax; the evenness of plant species abundances within the pond
G_Simp
Gini-Simpson diversity index: 1 - (Sum of squares of species frequencies)
G_Simp_ED
The "true diversity" according to the Gini-Simpson index
No._Rare_taxa
Number of regionally rare taxaa: Ruppia cirrhosa, Utricularia minor,
Potamogeton foliosus, P. natans, and P. obtusifolius
%_Rare_taxa
Percent of total species richness comprised of regionally rare species
%C_Rare_taxa
Relative abundance of regionally rare species
%_Common_taxa
Percent of total species richness comprised of common species
%C_Common_taxa
Relative abundance of common species
H'_ED/G_Simp_ED A measure of dominance
FQAIb
R/SQRT(N), where R is Sum_C and N is the number of native vascular
plant species
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Sum_C
Sum of coefficients of conservatism values on a presence/absence basis
Med_C
Median coefficient of conservatism value
Mean_C
Mean coefficient of conservatism value
%C_Annual
Relative abundance of annual vascular plants
%C_Perennial
Relative abundance of perennial vascular plants
%C_Non-native
Relative abundance of non-native plants
%C_Native
Relative abundance native plants
%C_Carnivorous
Relative abundance of carnivorous plants
%C_Halophyte
Relative abundance of salt tolerant plants: R. cirrhosa, Z. palustris, S.
pectinata, Chara spp.
%C_Alkali
Relative abundance of alkali-loving plants: P. alpinus, P. foliosus, P.
zosteriformis, S. pectinata, Z. palustris, Chara spp.
%C_Monocots
Relative abundance of monocots
%C_Dicots
Relative abundance of dicots
%C_Float_Leaf
Percent cover of floating leafed plants
%C_Sparse_Leaf
Relative abundance of sparse leaved submersed plants: R. cirrhosa, Z.
palustris, P. natans, P. nodosus, P. alpinus, Ranunculus spp.
%_Annual
Percent of TOT_S comprised of annual species
%_Perennial
Percent of TOT_S comprised of perennials
%_Non-native
Percent of TOT_S comprised of non-native plants
%_Native
Percent of TOT_S comprised of native plant species
%_Carnivorous
Percent of TOT_S comprised of carnivorous plants
%_Halophyte
Percent of TOT_S comprised of salt tolerant species
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%_Alkali
Percent of TOT_S comprised of alkali-loving plants
%_Monocots
Percent of TOT_S comprised of monocots
%_Dicots
Percent of TOT_S comprised of dicots
%_Float_Leaf
Percent of TOT_S comprised of floating leafed plants
%_Sparse_Leaf
Percent of TOT_S comprised of sparse leaved submersed species
P-A_Rcirrhosac
Presence/absence of R. cirrhosa (a disturbed community)
P-A_aqua_moss
Presence/absence of aquatic moss (a reference community)
P-A_Cdemersum
Presence/absence of C. demersum (a reference community)
P-A_Chara
Presence/absence of Chara spp. (a disturbed community)
%C_Umacrorhiza
Relative abundance of U. macrorhiza (a reference community)
%C_Cdemersum
Relative abundance of C. demersum
%C_Chara
Relative abundance of Chara spp.
%C_Myriophyllum
Relative abundance of Myriophyllum spp. (a disturbed community)
%C_Ppusillus
Relative abundance of P. pusillus (a disturbed community)
%C_Potamogetons
Relative abundance of Potamogeton spp. (a disturbed community)
%_Umacrorhiza
Percent of TOT_S comprised of U. macrorhiza
%_C.demersum
Percent of TOT_S comprised of C. demersum
%_Chara
Percent of TOT_S comprised of Chara spp.
%_Myriophyllum
Percent of TOT_S comprised of Myriophyllum spp.
%_Ppusillus
Percent of TOT_S comprised of P. pusillus
%_Potamogetons
Percent of TOT_S comprised of Potamogeton spp.
Med_SAV_Dens
Median SAV biomass rating calculated from the 10 quadrats
Overall_SAV_Dens
Estimate of overall SAV biomass rating
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a
Rarity is as defined by Kershaw et al. (2001)
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b
FQAI is following the method described in (Forrest 2010)
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c
contribution of species to reference versus degraded communities is derived from Rooney and
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Bayley (2011)
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References
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Kershaw L., Gould J., Johnson D.L. and Lancaster J. (eds.) 2001. Rare vascular plants of
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Alberta. University of Alberta Press / Canadian Forest Service, Edmonton, Alberta.
Forrest A. 2010. Created stormwater wetlands as wetland compensation and a floristic quality
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approach to wetland condition assessment in central Alberta, University of Alberta:
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Edmonton, AB.
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Rooney R.C. and Bayley S.E. 2011. Setting reclamation targets and evaluating progress:
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submersed aquatic vegetation in natural and post-oil sands mining wetlands in Alberta,
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Canada. Ecological Engineering 37: 569-579.
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