Joy and Death (2004): Application of the Index of Biotic Integrity Methodology to New Zealand Freshwater Fish Communities.

Joy, M.K. & Death, R.G. (2004) Application of the Index of Biotic Integrity Methodology to New Zealand Freshwater Fish Communities. Environmental Management, 34, 415–428.

An index of biotic integrity (IBI) was developed for freshwater fish in New Zealand streams. Data on freshwater fish occurrence for 5007 sites over the entire country were obtained from the New Zealand freshwater fish database for the period 1980–2002. Corresponding environmental descriptors for the stream catchments above or at each of these sites were obtained from a number of databases using a geographic information system. Of the 12 original North American IBI metrics, only six were adapted and applied because of differences between the fish faunas of New Zealand and the United States of America. A number of evaluation methods showed all six metrics contributed to the overall IBI scores with high levels of consistency. The IBI assessment of sites sampled at different times showed high levels of temporal concordance. Overall, the results presented demonstrate the potential for New Zealand freshwater fish to be used to assess river condition at large spatial scales in New Zealand in the absence of specifically selected reference sites.