Do SASS5 scores vary with season in the South African highveld? A case study on the Skeerpoort River, North West province, South Africa

dc.contributor.authorFourie, Hermina E.
dc.contributor.authorThirion, C.
dc.contributor.authorWeldon, Christopher William
dc.contributor.emailhermina.fourie@zoology.up.ac.zaen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-01-28T07:27:49Z
dc.date.available2015-01-28T07:27:49Z
dc.date.issued2014
dc.description.abstractMacroinvertebrate assemblages can vary with season as a result of changing environmental conditions and phenology of individual species. The objective of this study was to determine whether results from the South African Scoring System version 5 (SASS5) are affected by season. The standard SASS5 protocol was used to sample three sites on the Skeerpoort River, South Africa, in autumn, winter and spring 2013, and summer 2014. At each site, stream morphology was characterised and physicochemical variables were measured. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare SASS indices in relation to site and season, and a one-way ANOVA was used to test the effect of season using both current and historical data. Macroinvertebrate assemblage similarity of sites was determined using nonmetric multidimensional scaling ordination, followed by analysis of similarity. Whilst macroinvertebrate assemblages differed between seasons and sites, there was no seasonal variation in the values of SASS indices, but they did differ between sites. SASS5 appears to be robust to seasonal variation in macroinvertebrate assemblage and seems suitable for use throughout the year in a perennial river draining the South African highveld region.en_ZA
dc.description.embargo2015-12-30en_ZA
dc.description.librarianhb2015en_ZA
dc.description.sponsorshipUniversity of Pretoria through a Research Development Programme.en_ZA
dc.description.urihttp://www.tandfonline.com/loi/taas20en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationFourie, HE, Thirion, C & Weldon, CW 2014, 'Do SASS5 scores vary with season in the South African highveld? A case study on the Skeerpoort River, North West province, South Africa', African Journal of Aquatic Science, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 369-376.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn1608-5914 (print)
dc.identifier.issn1727-9364 (online)
dc.identifier.other10.2989/16085914.2014.978256
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/43462
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherTaylor & Francisen_ZA
dc.rights© Taylor and Francis. This is an electronic version of an article published in African Journal of Aquatic Science, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 369-376, 2014. doi : 10.2989/16085914.2014.978256. African Journal of Aquatic Science is available online at : http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/taas20en_ZA
dc.subjectAquatic macroinvertebratesen_ZA
dc.subjectBioassessmenten_ZA
dc.subjectSeasonal variationen_ZA
dc.subjectWater qualityen_ZA
dc.subjectSouth African Scoring System version 5 (SASS5)en_ZA
dc.titleDo SASS5 scores vary with season in the South African highveld? A case study on the Skeerpoort River, North West province, South Africaen_ZA
dc.typePostprint Articleen_ZA

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